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Wonky hole is a colloquial,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
n term for a submarine groundwater discharge, a freshwater
spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...
flowing from the seabed.


Geography

Wonky holes are found in the
Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, A ...
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 i ...
, both in
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...
. Wonky holes can be found in the coral reef up to offshore.


Geology

Wonky holes are located along riverbeds which existed in the last glacial period ending about 11,000 years ago. At that time of the
last glacial maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Late Glacial Maximum, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period that ice sheets were at their greatest extent. Ice sheets covered much of Northern North America, Northern Eu ...
much of northern Europe and North America was covered by ice sheets up to thick; the water tied up in the glacial ice lowered the
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...
more than . The
sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand ...
in the submerged river beds from that period has been covered with coral in many places. Since the sediment is more permeable than the surrounding materials, it channels fresh water to thin spots in the coral, creating the fresh water springs called wonky holes. The nutrients carried by the fresh water attract fish and fishermen. Coral does not grow well in the fresh water, resulting in irregular growth around wonky holes. The rough bottoms around the outlet tend to capture fishing nets. Around 200 holes are known along the coast between Townsville and Cape York. Water flowing along the submarine riverbeds and exiting at wonky holes can be charged with nutrients carried from the mainland. These can cause
eutrophication Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phyt ...
in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.


In literature

A wonky hole makes a brief appearance in the
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
novel, ''
Camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...
''."Camouflage",
Joe Haldeman Joe William Haldeman (born June 9, 1943) is an American science fiction author. He is best known for his novel '' The Forever War'' (1974). That novel and other works, including '' The Hemingway Hoax'' (1991) and '' Forever Peace'' (1997), have ...
, Ace Books, New York, 2004


References

{{Reflist


External links


Article on the effects of agriculture on ''wonky holes''
Hydrology Great Barrier Reef