Gordon Inlet is an

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

inlet, located in the Goldfields-Esperance region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The inlet is at the south west corner of the

Fitzgerald River National Park Fitzgerald River National Park is a national park in the Shires of Ravensthorpe and the Jerramungup in Western Australia, southeast of Perth. The park is recognised on Australia's National Heritage List for its outstanding diversity of nativ ...

and approximately north west of the town of

Bremer Bay Bremer may refer to: People *Bremer (surname) * Bremer Ehrler (born 1914), American politician * Bremer (born 1997), Brazilian footballer Places ;Australia *Bremer Bay, Western Australia * Bremer Marine Park *Bremer Island * Bremer River (disambig ...

. The estuary is transient and is quite shallow with a high rate of

evaporation Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. High concentration of the evaporating substance in the surrounding gas significantly slows down evaporation, such as when humidi ...

so that the estuary often dries out almost completely. The water is saline with salinity levels varying from slightly less than

seawater Seawater, or salt water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has appro ...

to over four times as saline. The Gairdner River flows into the inlet and discharges an average of 9.4 million cubic metres (332 million cu ft) per annum. The inlet is wave dominated and functions primarily as a result of

wave energy Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, water desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC). Waves are generated by wind ...

. It has a total surface area of , the majority of which is made up of the main basin and the estuary barriers with a small area of

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

and intertidal flats. The main seagrass species found in the estuary is ''

Ruppia maritima ''Ruppia maritima'' is an aquatic plant species commonly known as beaked tasselweed, ditch grass, tassel pondweed and widgeon grass. Despite its scientific name, it is not a marine plant; is perhaps best described as a salt-tolerant freshwa ...

''. The inlet was named in 1848 by

Surveyor-General of Western Australia The Surveyor General of Western Australia is the person nominally responsible for government surveying in Western Australia. In the early history of Western Australia, the office of surveyor general was one of the most important public offices. ...

John Septimus Roe John Septimus Roe (8 May 1797 – 28 May 1878) was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, a member of Western Australia's legislative and executive councils for nearly 40 years, but also a participant in t ...

after Gordon Gairdner, Senior Clerk of the Australian and Eastern Departments in the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...

, later Chief Clerk of the Colonial Office and Secretary and Registrar of the

Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

. Roe also named the Gairdner River and Mount Gordon after Gairdner.

References

{{coord, 34, 17, 07, S, 119, 28, 55, E, source:enwiki-plaintext-parser, display=title Estuaries of Western Australia Great Southern (Western Australia) Inlets of Western Australia