Lake Mackay, known as Wilkinkarra to the Indigenous

Pintupi The Pintupi are an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose traditional land is in the area west of Lake Macdonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. These people moved (or were moved) into the ...

people, is the largest of hundreds of ephemeral

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...

s scattered throughout the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...

and northern parts of 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 ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

. It is located on the edge of the

Great Sandy Desert The Great Sandy Desert is an interim Australian bioregion,IBRA Version 6.1
data

. The lake is the largest in Western Australia and has a surface area of . Its elevation ranges between and above mean sea-level.

Description

Lake Mackay is the fourth largest lake in Australia. It measures approximately east-west and north-south. The darker areas of the lakebed are indicative of some form of desert vegetation or

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

, some moisture within the soils of the dry lake, and the lowest elevations where pooling of water occurs. In this

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...

environment, salts and other minerals are carried to the surface through capillary action caused by

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 ...

, thereby producing the white reflective surface. Visible are various brown hills scattered across the eastern half of the lake and east-west-oriented sand ridges south of the lake. Known as ''Wilkinkarra'' to the local Indigenous population, the lake features prominently in the Aboriginal Dreaming narratives of the Western Desert. The main

mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

accounts of its origins can be clustered into three distinct themes, all of which contain references to a fierce bushfire that devastated the land and formed the lake. Other names are Ngayurru (or Ngayarru in Warlpiri), and Walartu or Warlatu.

Encounters

Explorer David Carnegie in 1897 predicted the lake's existence when he passed by it to the west as quoted in his book ''Spinifex and Sand''. The lake was first charted by Christopher Walker. He and Andy Everett came upon the mid-eastern side on Tuesday 15 April 1913, while on a prospecting expedition west from Ryan's Well to Wiluna.

Looking westward all that I could see was mirage for miles which appeared like large sheets of water. … After leaving the hill & going west for two miles we struck on our right an arm of the lake. At this point the lake was dry & exposed a thin layer of very white salt. … We then followed the arm of the lake westward. In another two miles along the arm it wheeled around to the south. … From this position looking north at what first looked like land on the other side, was only an island in the lake. Going a little further south gave us a better view of the islands. These islands would be distant from near shore from one up to four miles. Looking westward between the islands the lake could plainly be seen for many miles westward. This part of the lake we could not see water only large salt plains, which had the appearance of a large plain after a snow storm.

It was next reported by the 1930 Mackay Aerial Survey Expedition, after the survey aircraft flew over on 5 June 1930. Then Michael Terry and party reached the north-eastern corner of Lake Mackay by camel in August 1932. Terry mentioned two reports which may have been of the same lake, prior to Mackay’s 1930 survey: Afghan cameleer Rawazan in 1904, and the prospector Jimmy Wyckham in 1925. Lake Mackay was approved as a name both in the Northern Territory and in Western Australia by the Minister for the Interior, Canberra, on 13 March 1934 after

Donald George Mackay Donald George Mackay CBE (29 June 187017 September 1958) was an Australian outdoorsman, long-distance cyclist, and explorer who conducted several expeditions to the remotest areas of the Australian continent. Early life Donald George Mackay was ...

Events

The lake was the birthplace of prominent Indigenous artist

Linda Syddick Napaltjarri Linda Yunkata Syddick Napaltjarri (born c. 1937) is a Pintupi- and Pitjantjatjara- speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Her father was killed when she was young; her mother later married Shorty Lungkarta Tjungarray ...

, and the area in which artist

Ronnie Tjampitjinpa Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album ''Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

grew up.

Namesakes

The Northern Territory locality of

Lake Mackay Lake Mackay, known as Wilkinkarra to the Indigenous Pintupi people, is the largest of hundreds of ephemeral salt lakes scattered throughout the Pilbara and northern parts of the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia and the Norther ...

, whose boundaries include the lake, was named after it in 2007.

Mackay Lacus Mackay Lacus is the seventh largest of a number of hydrocarbon seas and lakes found on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The lake is composed of liquid methane and ethane, and was detected by the '' Cassini'' space probe. Mackay Lacus is located at ...

, one of the lakes on Saturn's moon Titan, is named after Lake Mackay.

Gallery

Lake MacKay Australia.jpg, 2017 satellite photograph taken by Copernicus

Sentinel-2B Sentinel-2B is a European optical imaging satellite that was launched on 7 March 2017. It is the second Sentinel-2 satellite launched as part of the European Space Agency's Copernicus Programme, and its orbit will be phased 180° against Sent ...

References