Английская Википедия:Blue Lake (New South Wales)

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Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:Use Australian English Шаблон:Infobox body of water The Blue Lake is one of only four cirque lakes found in mainland Australia. The other three, Cootapatamba, Albina, and Club, are shallower and are held entirely by terminal moraines. Blue Lake's valley contains the best-developed glacial features in the Kosciuszko National Park alpine area of New South Wales. It was recognised as a wetland of international importance on 17 March 1996 when a Шаблон:Convert area, comprising the lake and its surrounds, including nearby Hedley Tarn, was designated Ramsar Site 800 under the Ramsar Convention on wetlands.[1][2] The lake lies within the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves.

Description

Файл:Blue Lake, Snowy Mountains - Mindbender - 1.jpg
Peter Mills and John Eiseman climb Mindbender at Blue Lake in 1976.

Blue Lake is Шаблон:Convert in area and Шаблон:Convert deep. Its surface is entirely open water, with boulders reaching the shore in the east and north east, and the other shores being pebbly. It lies about Шаблон:Convert west of Jindabyne and Шаблон:Convert north of Charlotte Pass at an altitude of Шаблон:Convert above mean sea level, in a glacial landscape.[3]

The lake was formed when glaciers flowing from the Great Dividing Range converged and carved out a basin in the granite bedrock. It receives water from Blue Lake Creek, originating from Mount Twynam and from snowmelt. The surface of the lake is frozen for about four months of the year; it overflows in spring with the melting of the snow while, during the rest of the year, the water level remains stable.[3]

Flora and fauna

The lake is surrounded by alpine herbfield, heaths, bogs and fens supporting a range of native plants and animals, including rare, vulnerable and endangered species, as well as several kinds of invertebrate restricted to the alpine zone. Rare or threatened plants found within the Ramsar site include the branched carraway, wedge oschatzia and snow-wort, as well as the endangered ecological community of Montane Peatlands and Swamps. Threatened animals found there include the mountain pygmy possum and broad-toothed rat as well as the critically endangered fish the Kosciuszko galaxias.[3][4]

Access and usage

Blue Lake may be reached by a 2-hour walk from Charlotte Pass. Human activities in the area include environmental education, bushwalking, skiing, and ice climbing. Since all five glacial lakes in the Kosciuszko alpine area are naturally low in nutrients, in order to maintain nutrient balance and prevent contamination, camping is not permitted in the catchments of the glacial lakes.[2]

References

Шаблон:Reflist

External links

Шаблон:Lakes of New South Wales Шаблон:Snowy River Shire Шаблон:Ramsar sites in Australia

  1. Шаблон:Cite web
  2. 2,0 2,1 National Parks and Wildlife Services (text from sign near Blue Lake).
  3. 3,0 3,1 3,2 Шаблон:Cite web
  4. Шаблон:Cite journal