20-1007: Mary River may refer to: Mary River (Northern Territory) , Australia Mary River (Queensland) , Australia Mary River cod , an endangered freshwater fish Mary River turtle , endemic to the Mary River in Queensland Mary River (Western Australia) , Australia Mary River (Nunavut) , Canada Mary River Mine , an iron ore mine Mary River (Alaska) , United States See also [ edit ] [REDACTED] Search for "Mary River" on Misplaced Pages. All pages with titles beginning with Mary River All pages with titles containing Mary River Mary River National Park , Northern Territory, Australia Mary River Aerodrome , Nunavut, Canada Mary (disambiguation) Marys River (disambiguation) Saint Mary's River (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
40-472: A mosaic of habitats and are listed in the Directory of Important Wetlands . It is almost unique for an Australian river in that it has had no major tidal estuary as a river outlet for at least the last 2,000 years. The Mary River floodplains form a vital habitat in the dry season for some 250 species of birds including jabiru , jacana , brolga and pygmy geese . Four threatened plants are found along
60-400: A new river, to be given its own name, perhaps one already known to the people who live upon its banks. Conversely, explorers approaching a new land from the sea encounter its rivers at their mouths, where they name them on their charts, then, following a river upstream, encounter each tributary as a forking of the stream to the right and to the left, which then appear on their charts as such; or
80-470: Is a breeding area for barramundi , the target fish species for recreational anglers in the area. It is one of eight rivers in the Northern Territory with a large floodplain system in their catchment area. The wetlands occupy an area of approximately 1,300 square kilometres (502 sq mi) and are predominantly freshwater, although they suffer from saltwater intrusion. The wetlands provide
100-549: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Mary River (Northern Territory) The Mary River flows in the Northern Territory of Australia and is a site of the Mary River National Park . The river is approximately 225 kilometres (140 mi) long and rises about 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of Pine Creek . The catchment area
120-518: Is over 8,000 square kilometres (3,089 sq mi) but is ephemeral and only flows in the wet season , during the dry it is a series of pools and billabongs . The catchment has several small reserve areas forming the Mary River National Park to help protect it. The Arnhem Highway crosses the river near one of the park areas. It also supports multiple land uses including pastoralism , fishing, mining, defence force, tourism, conservation, and horticulture. Pastoralism, particularly cattle grazing
140-576: Is the dominant use, taking up 63% of the catchment area. The river has a total of ten tributaries , including the Little Mary River, MacKinlay River, Bowerbird Creek, Mingloo Creek and Douglas Creek. It has a mean annual outflow of 2,400 gigalitres (3.139 × 10 cu yd). Its lower reaches form part of the Adelaide and Mary River Floodplains Important Bird Area . The river is noted for its population of saltwater crocodiles , and
160-528: The Mary was a branch of the Adelaide river and always referred to it as "The Mary, Adelaide river". Tributary A tributary , or an affluent , is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ( main stem or "parent" ), river, or a lake . A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean . Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they flow, drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater , leading
180-451: The handedness is from the point of view of an observer facing upstream. For instance, Steer Creek has a left tributary which is called Right Fork Steer Creek. These naming conventions are reflective of the circumstances of a particular river's identification and charting: people living along the banks of a river, with a name known to them, may then float down the river in exploration, and each tributary joining it as they pass by appears as
200-424: The joining of tributaries. The opposite to a tributary is a distributary , a river or stream that branches off from and flows away from the main stream. Distributaries are most often found in river deltas . Right tributary , or right-bank tributary , and left tributary , or left-bank tributary , describe the orientation of the tributary relative to the flow of the main stem river. These terms are defined from
220-469: The opposite bank before approaching the confluence. An early tributary is a tributary that joins the main stem river closer to its source than its mouth, that is, before the river's midpoint ; a late tributary joins the main stem further downstream, closer to its mouth than to its source, that is, after the midpoint. In the United States, where tributaries sometimes have the same name as
SECTION 10
#1732773025551240-476: The perspective of looking downstream, that is, facing the direction the water current of the main stem is going. In a navigational context, if one were floating on a raft or other vessel in the main stream, this would be the side the tributary enters from as one floats past; alternately, if one were floating down the tributary, the main stream meets it on the opposite bank of the tributary. This information may be used to avoid turbulent water by moving towards
260-459: The river including Goodenia quadrifida, Schoutenia ovata and the endangered Cycas armstrongii and Helicteres macrothrix. The riparian vegetation found on the upper catchment includes mixed woodlands of pandanus , wattle , paperbark and freshwater mangroves with an understorey of grass and sedges. Weeds are becoming problematic with shrub horehounds , spiny head sida and wild passion fruit vine featuring. 34 species of fish are found in
280-666: The river into which they feed, they are called forks . These are typically designated by compass direction. For example, the American River in California receives flow from its North, Middle, and South forks. The Chicago River 's North Branch has the East, West, and Middle Fork; the South Branch has its South Fork, and used to have a West Fork as well (now filled in). Forks are sometimes designated as right or left. Here,
300-602: The river, as is the vulnerable yellow-snouted gecko (Lucasium occultum). The traditional owners of the area are the Wulwulam people in the south and the Limilngan people in the Northern floodplain country. The river was named by John McDouall Stuart in 1862. He wrote in his diary "Country burning all round. Lat 13°38'24". This branch I have named the Mary, in honour of Miss Mary Chambers." Stuart always believed that
320-488: The river, including the Macleay's glassfish, barred grunter , sooty grunter, fly-specked hardyhead, toothless catfish, flathead goby, spangled perch, barramundi , oxeye herring, rainbowfish, black-banded rainbowfish, northern trout gudgeon, bony bream, catfish, Hyrtl's tandan, freshwater longtom, seven-spot archerfish and the sleepy cod. Two threatened goanna species, Varanus mertensi and Varanus panoptes, are found along
340-456: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Mary River . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mary_River&oldid=1259060431 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
360-418: The smaller stream designated the little fork, the larger either retaining its name unmodified, or receives the designation big . Tributaries are sometimes listed starting with those nearest to the source of the river and ending with those nearest to the mouth of the river . The Strahler stream order examines the arrangement of tributaries in a hierarchy of first, second, third and higher orders, with
380-432: The streams are seen to diverge by the cardinal direction (north, south, east, or west) in which they proceed upstream, sometimes a third stream entering between two others is designated the middle fork; or the streams are distinguished by the relative height of one to the other, as one stream descending over a cataract into another becomes the upper fork, and the one it descends into, the lower ; or by relative volume:
400-466: The water out into an ocean. The Irtysh is a chief tributary of the Ob river and is also the longest tributary river in the world with a length of 4,248 km (2,640 mi). The Madeira River is the largest tributary river by volume in the world with an average discharge of 31,200 m /s (1.1 million cu ft/s). A confluence , where two or more bodies of water meet, usually refers to
#550449