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 ...
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 g ...
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 t ...
and the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
. It is located within the
Great Sandy Desert
The Great Sandy Desert is an interim Australian bioregion,[IBRA Version 6.1](_blank)
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 micr ...
, 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 ...
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 h ...
, 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.
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''.
It was given its present name 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 ...
.
The lake was the birthplace of prominent Indigenous artist
Linda Syddick Napaltjarri,
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, whose boundaries include the lake, was named after it in 2007.
, 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
See also
*
List of lakes of Australia
Natural freshwater lakes in Australia are rare due to the general absence of glacial and tectonic activity in Australia.
Types
Most lakes in Australia fall within one of five categories. Excluding lakes created by man-made dams for water ...
*
Lake Mackay hare-wallaby
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackay
Lakes of the Pilbara (Western Australia)
Lakes of the Kimberley (Western Australia)
Great Sandy Desert
Mackay, Lake
Saline lakes of the Northern Territory