The Walker River is a river in 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 ...

, Australia.

Course

The headwaters of the river are in the

Mitchell Ranges Mitchell Ranges are a mountain range in Arnhem Land located approximately east of Darwin in the Northern Territory, of Australia. The Range is approximately long running from north to south with a width of approximately . Several peaks are foun ...

and the river flows in a southerly direction between Mount Ramsay and Mount Fleming and through Fairy Glen then down onto a plain then cuts through Bath Range under Mount Rankine and veering eastward. The river then passes the

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

communities of Marrkalawa and Andanangki the past the Coast Range and discharges into Blue Mud Bay and the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary is ...

and the

Arafura Sea The Arafura Sea (or Arafuru Sea) lies west of the Pacific Ocean, overlying the continental shelf between Australia and Western New Guinea (also called Papua), which is the Indonesian part of the Island of New Guinea. Geography The Arafura Sea is ...

. The river catchment occupies an area of and is wedged between the

Koolatong River The Koolatong River is a river in the Northern Territory, Australia. Rising in the Mitchell Ranges the river initially flows north then turns east across the uninhabited plains eventually discharging into the Saint Nicholas Inlet and the Blue ...

catchment to the north, the

Goyder River The Goyder River is a river in the Northern Territory, Australia. Description The headwaters of the river rise at the base of the Mitchell Ranges and are fed by spring discharge from an extensive dolomite aquifer that supports areas of rainf ...

catchment to the west, and the

Roper River The Roper River is a large perennial river located in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory of Australia. Location and features Formed by the confluence of the Waterhouse River and Roper Creek, the Roper River rises east of Mataranka ...

catchment to the south. It has a mean annual outflow of . The

estuary 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 ...

formed at the river mouth is in near pristine condition with a tidal delta. The estuary at the river mouth occupies an area of of open water. It is river dominated in nature with a tide dominated delta with a single channel and is surrounded by an area of covered with

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

History

The

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

of the area are the

Nunggubuyu people The Nunggubuyu are an Aboriginal Australian people of eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Language Nunggubuyu also called ''Wubuy'' is a non-Pama Nyungan language characterized by head marking with an intricate verb prefix morpholog ...

, who have inhabited the area for thousands of years. The river was named by the explorer, David Lindsay, during his expedition through

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...

in 1883. Lindsay named it after Thomas Walker, the leader of the Blue Mud Bay prospecting party, who was murdered by Aboriginal people in the area in 1875.

References

{{Rivers of the Northern Territory , state=collapsed Rivers of the Northern Territory

Course

History

See also

References