Authors / CoAuthors
Jacobson, G.
Abstract
Lake Amadeus, a large playa in central Australia, is part of a 500 km long groundwater discharge zone, which extends from Lake Hopkins, in Western Australia, to the Finke River. In this zone, groundwater discharges and evaporates at playa surfaces over a total area of 1750 km2. Groundwater flows towards Lake Amadeus in Cainozoic sediments which overlie fractured Proterozoic bedrock. Sediments beneath the lake bed are saturated with sodium-magnesium chloride rich brine, which contains about 250 g/L total dissolved solids. The lake bed is generally dry and contains areas of heaved gypsum ground and slightly lower, flat, halite-encrusted zones which are occasionally flooded. Gypsum is actively precipitating in the capillary zone above the water-table, which is generally at a depth of 0.30-0.50 m. In Lake Amadeus and other nearby playas the total mass of salt stored is estimated as about 6000 million tonnes and this has accumulated in about 12000 years. Water-budget calculations show that groundwater recharge in the catchment of 90 000km2 is approximately 1 mm/year, which is only 0.4 per cent of the incident rainfall.
Product Type
document
eCat Id
81227
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Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
Canberra
ACT
2601
Australia
Keywords
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- GA PublicationJournal
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- NTWASA
- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
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- Earth Sciences
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- Published_External
Publication Date
1988-01-01T00:00:00
Creation Date
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unknown
Topic Category
geoscientificInformation
Series Information
BMR Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics 10:4:301-308
Lineage
Unknown
Parent Information
Extents
[-27.91, -22.26, 127.22, 134.16]
Reference System
Spatial Resolution
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Source data not available.