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17°S 146°E Cairns – Queensland by Degrees |
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Location: This confluence point is located off-shore, approximately 7 km south of Fitzroy Island. The point was not visited. The Landscape: At sea. Point information and photos: Ken Granger, 2008. WITHIN THE DEGREE SQUARE The Country: The landscapes within this degree square range from extensive mud flats and strands of estuarine mangroves to Queensland's two highest mountains, the south peak of Mt Bartle Frere (1622 m ASL) and the central peak of Mt Bellenden Ker (1561 m ASL). It also includes the volcanic landscapes of the Atherton Tablelands as well as the floodplains of the Barron, Mulgrave, Russell and North Johnstone Rivers.
The coastal lands, including the lower floodplains, have a gentle topography and are composed largely of alluvium of the Quaternary age (less than 2 million years). In some places around Trinity Inlet these sediments are more than 90 m deep. Trinity Inlet is actually the former estuary of the Mulgrave River. The course of the Mulgrave was altered from its original termination in Trinity Inlet to its current mouth 40 km to the south approximately 15,000 years ago as a result of the eruption of the small volcanic centre known today as Green Hill. Elevations are generally less than 50 m ASL. Apart from the mangrove communities and some riparian forests, very little natural vegetation remains on these areas as they are now given over either to urban development, sugar cane, pasture or anthropogenic grassland. The most notable fauna in the estuaries are estuarine crocodiles. Off the coast are several islands and cays. The largest is Fitzroy Island, a continental island composed of Late Permian age (270 to 210 million years) granite. Fitzroy has a maximum elevation of 270 m ASL, that height being reached within 250 m of the water. There are many massive granite tors scattered across the island. Fitzroy vegetation includes mid-height rainforest on the flanks and a low heath on the upper slopes. Fauna noted on and around Fitzroy Island included humpback whales and manta rays off-shore; goannas on shore; and a range of birds including Emerald Dove, Orange Footed Scrubfowl and Grey-headed Robin.
High Island to the south of Fitzroy is also a continental island but has much more ancient geology. It is composed of "gneiss" of Neoproterozoic age (1000 to 545 million years). It carries vegetation similar to that of Fitzroy Island. Green Island, by contrast, is a coral cay that carries a cover of vine thicket rainforest in the interior, a belt of lower scrubby salt-tolerant shrubs behind the beach and coconut palms along the beach. The coconut palms are believed to have been planted in 1889 to provide a food source for fishermen and stranded sailors. It is the only cay along the length of the Great Barrier Reef that supports such a rich flora. The rich vegetation is largely the result of seeds brought to the island by birds such as the Pied Imperial-pigeon and fertilised by their droppings. Green Island is recorded as being home to some 35 bird species including Osprey and White-breasted Sea Eagle. Other cays within the square, such as Upolo and Michaelmas, are simple sand cays with very little vegetation at all other than low groundcover plants. The sand cays are nesting rookeries for a range of sea birds such as the Sooty Tern. Surrounding the cays are seagrass beds that support populations of turtles and dugong. PHOTOS OF THE CAYS WELCOME The coastal escarpment that runs the length of this square was probably formed from a modified land surface more than 65 million years old. The granite bodies of the various ranges remain the highest points of this land surface because of their greater resistance to erosion. Around 60 million years ago the eastern part of the continental highland was rifted, leaving a steep eastern slope. This slope has been retreating since then to reach a position close to that of the present about one million years ago. Erosion has occurred most rapidly in the metamorphosed sediments such as the mudstone of Devonian age (410 to 354 million years) that makes up much of the Great Dividing Range through the square, leaving the granite as isolated hills and ranges. These granite bodies, which include Mt Bartle Frere and Mt Bellenden Ker, are of Late Permian age (270 to 260 million years). The landscape features associated with the escarpment are quite dramatic. The sudden change from the flat and very low-lying land around Trinity Inlet to the slopes of the Isley Hills and Murray Prior Range; and the 922 m high Walsh's Pyramid near Gordonvale, are examples. Walsh's Pyramid is claimed to be the largest free-standing natural pyramid in the world. The Macalister Range to the north of Cairns in places rises to elevations of more than 700 m ASL within a few hundred metres of the sea. |
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The volcanic landscapes of the Atherton Tableland include the scoria cones of the Seven Sisters and three crater lakes - Lake Barrine and Lake Eacham, both of which have the classic circular shape, and Lake Euramoo with its unusual 'hourglass' shape. The lakes were formed around 23,000 years ago during a period of very active volcanism in Far North Queensland. These features (maars) were formed when rapidly rising magma came into contact with the water table. The resulting explosion of superheated groundwater causing the massive explosions that formed these craters. The basalts of the Tableland date from the Pliocene (5 to 2 million years) and produce some of the richest agricultural land in Queensland.
The rivers within the degree square carry huge volumes of water. They have sculpted the landscape as they form gorges or deltas.
The area has a spectacular bird fauna. Some 300 bird species have been recorded in the area with habitats ranging from wetlands and mangroves to mountain rainforests. Amongst these are the migratory Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher and its relative, the Little Kingfisher; the ground-feeding Cassowary, Orange-footed Scrubfowl and Bush Stone-curlew; and a wide range of honeyeaters, robins, finches, raptors and pigeons. In the agricultural country around Yungaburra, Brolgas and Sarus Cranes are common. Reptiles range from estuarine crocodiles in coastal areas to a rich fauna of snakes, including Amethystine Python, Red-bellied Black Snake, and numerous species of skinks, dragons and geckos. Frogs are also abundant with tree frogs such as the White-lipped and Green Tree Frogs and the Ornate Burrowing Frog. In the urban and cultivated areas the Cane Toad is a very common feral. Insects abound. Many are spectacular in their size and colouring while others are often very difficult to spot. Butterflies (including swallowtails and birdwings), moths (including the huge Hercules Moth), dragonflies and beetles of many types abound. |
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The Climate: The altitudinal diversity of the degree square's landscape is reflected in its climatic range. The climate ranges from persistently wet rainforest on the ranges to tropical monsoonal along the coast and Tableland. The climatic averages for Cairns Airport and Mareeba (on the Tableland just outside the square to the west) illustrate the tropical monsoon regime. Cairns Airport (site 031011) 1941-2008 (elevation 2 m ASL)
Mareeba QWRC (site 031066) 1952-2008 (elevation 400 m ASL)
The highest temperature recorded in Cairns was 40.5°C in December 1990 while the lowest temperature was 6.2°C in June 1946. Rainfall also varies greatly. The highest total of 3148.8 mm was recorded in 2000 and the lowest total of 721 mm in 2002. In January 1981 the monthly total was 1417.4 mm. The extremes at Mareeba, some 400 m higher in elevation and only 38 km inland, but on the western side of the Great Dividing Range, show a highest maximum of 40.6°C in November 1990, a record low of 0.4°C in June 1963; a highest rainfall of 1730.2 mm in 1974 and a lowest total of 388.8 mm in 1966. Unfortunately the BoM web site does not include detailed data for Mt Bellenden Ker, the wettest meteorological station in Australia. It averages 8312 mm of rainfall a year and also holds the annual rainfall record of 12,461 mm of rain in 2000. It has recorded a massive 1140 mm in 24 hours - almost the annual total rainfall for Brisbane in a single day! Extremes of Nature: The area is very much subject to the impact of tropical cyclones. The cyclone database maintained by the Bureau of Meteorology shows that 72 cyclones tracked within 200 km of the confluence point between 1906-7 and 2006-7. Seventeen of those cyclones passed within 50 km of the confluence point during that period: an unnamed cyclone in March 1918; an unnamed cyclone in January 1932; an unnamed cyclone in January 1934; an unnamed cyclone in February 1946; an unnamed cyclone in February-March 1946; an unnamed cyclone in January 1948; an unnamed cyclone in February 1956; TC Bertha in January 1959; an unnamed cyclone in December 1959; TC Judy in January 1965; TC Dawn in March 1976; TC Otto in March 1977; TC Felicity in December 1989; TC Ivor in March 1990; TC Justin in March 1997; TC Steve in February 2000; TC Abigail in February 2001.
Of the 100 or more cyclones that have had some effect on Cairns and its surrounding countryside since European settlement began, at least 12 have done substantial damage or caused significant dislocation. It is, however, difficult to make direct comparisons of damage done between individual cyclones over that time because the settlement (and buildings) on which they had their impact has changed greatly over time. The 12 most notable cyclones are:
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In spite of this record there is still a view held by many residents of the area that Cairns is in some way protected from the impact of cyclones by the surrounding hills and the Great Barrier Reef. For example the following appeared in a letter to the Editor of the Cairns Post on 14 May 1998 following a report in that paper on some research undertaken by geographers at James Cook University:
The second is from a Grade 7 girl from Babinda on the coast and close to the eye of the cyclone.
Apart from the damage to towns and crops TC Larry caused considerable damage to the rainforest of the Wet Tropics. Massive Strangler Figs and rainforest trees were uprooted and plantations of Hoop Pine severely damaged. |
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Most cyclones bring with them heavy rain that can produce severe flooding and landslides. All of the coast-flowing rivers have a well recorded history of flood. The experience of major flooding in the Barron River estuary in the early days of the Trinity Inlet settlements has probably minimised the risk to the present-day Cairns community -- the lessons of its flood potential were learned at an early stage. Floods in successive years in 1877, 1878 and 1879 sped the abandoning of the original Smithfield settlement on the Barron, reinforcing the choice of the shores of Trinity Inlet as the preferred site for the port and settlement. There have been nine major floods, six moderate floods and at least 12 minor floods recorded in the Barron River since 1911. The flood of 1911 was measured on the Myola gauge (near Kuranda) at 15.37 m and remains the flood of record. The most recent major flood in March 2008 peaked at 10.06 m on the Myola gauge. The other rivers in the area including the Mulgrave and North Johnstone have a similar flood record. Episodes of intense rainfall have also been responsible for triggering significant landslides and debris flows. There were major debris flows in 1878 and 1911 (no doubt triggered by the same rainfall events that caused major flooding in the Barron River) and again in 1951. The 1951 event brought down material that blocked 10 km of the Captain Cook Highway just to the north of Cairns to a depth of 3 m!
There are 86 earthquake epicentres within the degree square recorded since 1900 in the National Earthquake Database maintained by Geoscience Australia. They range from several barely detectable events of ML 0.6 (probably associated ground settling under the weight of the waters of Tinaroo Falls Dam) to the ML 4.7 event of 1 December 1958. The largest and most damaging earthquake, however, occurred on 27 February 1896. This was a ML 4.3 event with an epicentre approximately 15 km south-west of Cairns that caused minor damage, including cracking in two concrete railway tunnels on the Kuranda line. The epicentre of the 1 December 1950 event was 50 km north-north-west of Cairns. It also caused only minor damage.
The Indigenous Story: The area covered by the degree square is the traditional country of three Aboriginal groups: the Djabuganjdji on the coast and hinterland north of Cairns; the Yidinjdji on the coast and hinterland south of Cairns; and the Djirbalngan in the southern hinterland. The relationship between Aboriginals and the early explorers and settlers on the coast and in the hinterland was, at times, violent. Clashes occurred as Aboriginals resisted European encroachment and 'dispersal' campaigns were mounted using the Native Mounted Police. At the same time many explorers, miners and settlers relied heavily on Aboriginals as guides and labourers. The Yarrabah community is the largest Aboriginal community in the degree square. It is located on Mission Bay, named for the Anglican Mission that was established there by the Reverend Ernest Gribble in 1892. Over the years, the State Government forcibly relocated Aboriginal and some South Sea Islander peoples to Yarrabah. Most local residents can claim both traditional and historical ties to the area. In 1957 the people of Yarrabah staged a strike to protest against poor working conditions, inadequate food, health problems and harsh administration. The church expelled the ringleaders and many others left voluntarily, never to return. The Anglican Church relinquished control of Yarrabah in 1962 and in 1965 an Aboriginal Council was established that allowed the people to give 'advice' to the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. It was not until 1986 that the council received its Deed of Grant in Trust land tenure status, making the Yarrabah Community Council self-governing. MORE DETAILS WELCOME |
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European Exploration and Settlement: The first Europeans to sight the area were with Cook on HMS Endeavour in June 1770. Cook charted and named Cape Grafton, Green Island and Trinity Bay. Other navigators of note to visit the area in the early days were Philip Parker King in HMS Mermaid in 1819 and Owen Stanley on HMS Rattlesnake in 1848, after depositing Edmond Kennedy's expedition at Rockingham Bay. Kennedy and his party were probably the first Europeans to pass through the area on land. They were regularly harassed by Aboriginals. The next European to pass into the area was probably John Atherton, a grazier from the Mackay area, who overlanded cattle to the Palmer goldfield 1873 and then to the Hodgkinson gold fields in 1875. Atherton and others established cattle grazing enterprises on the Tableland along the Barron River. The settlement of the hinterland ahead of the coastal areas was quite common in north Queensland in the 1870s. The same form of development occurred in Townsville, Mackay and Gladstone. The push to develop ports and coastal communities was driven by the pastoral and mining ventures in the interior which needing a more convenient and economical access to sea transport for their produce than the long and dangerous overland routes that they had pioneered. European settlement of Cairns was established in 1876 to provide a port and supply base for the Hodgkinson River goldfields that had been discovered in the previous year. The settlement was eventually named for the then Governor of Queensland, Sir William Wellington Cairns. The original site for the settlement was on the banks of the Barron River where the suburb of Smithfield is now located, however severe floods in the next three successive years saw the site abandoned and settlement move to the low-lying and muddy banks of Trinity Inlet. Around the same time Cedar getters had begun harvesting the 'red gold' in the Mulgrave River valley around where Gordonvale now stands. Sugar cane was introduced to the area in the early 1880s and the first sugar mill was established by Chinese entrepreneur Andrew Lee On in 1882, together with the establishing of the Hop Wah Plantation. On the Tablelands settlement was also moving ahead. Yungaburra, for example, (originally called Allumbah Pocket from the pocket of grassland maintained in the forest by Aboriginal use of fire over millennia) had become a camping spot for miners and settlers on their way to the tin and gold fields farther west. Shanties grew up along the pack tracks at Boar Pocket (near Lake Barrine) and Ball Pocket (later the township of Kulara which was flooded with the construction of Tinaroo Dam). The area around Allumbah Pocket was surveyed for group settlement in 1886 and the Village Settlement Scheme was declared open in 1890. In this scheme selectors were allocated 40 acres of farm land and a quarter acre block of land in the village where they were expected to live. The scheme failed and was abandoned in 1906 because selectors preferred to live on their farm block. There was considerable competition between the business people of Trinity Bay settlement and Port Douglas for the development of the supply port for the Hodgkinson goldfields and the tin mines of Herberton and beyond. Local investors hired experienced bushmen, such as the legendary Christie Palmerston, to survey routes for roads from the Tableland to the coast. In 1882, however, it was decided that a railway would be built to link the mining areas with a sea port. Palmerston was hired to survey several routes for the railway - one following the Mossman River to terminate in Port Douglas, one following the Barron River to terminate in Cairns and the third following the Mulgrave River to terminate at Mourilyan Harbour near Geraldton (present-day Innisfail). In March 1884, a surveyor named Monk submitted reports from investigations carried out on all the routes marked by Palmerston. This culminated in a decision that would shape the future of North Queensland. The Barron Valley gorge route was chosen. The storm of indignation which followed from Port Douglas and Geraldton was as enormous as the jubilant celebrations from the people in Cairns. Construction of the railway line was divided into three contracts, the first stage (from Cairns to Redlynch) and third stage (from Myola to Mareeba) were relatively easy but section two (Redlynch to Myola) was extremely arduous and dangerous to construct due to steep unstable slopes, high rainfall, dense forest and (at least in the early stage) resistance by local Aboriginals. The climb from Redlynch at an elevation of 5.5 m ASL at the mouth of the Barron Gorge to Myola above the Barron Falls at 327.1 m required construction of 15 tunnels, 93 curves and dozens of difficult bridges, some of them many metres above the ravines and waterfalls. Construction of the line by hand was dangerous and many of the 1500 workers were injured, some fatally. Landslides also destroyed many sections which had to be re-built. The line as far as Kuranda was open to traffic in June 1891 and by 1893 it had reached Mareeba, by 1903 it had been pushed on to Atherton and by 1911 it had reached Yungaburra and Malanda. The coming of the railway opened up the hinterland's rich agricultural lands for closer settlement.
The sugar industry became well established in the Mulgrave valley by the late 1800s, with mills established at Edmonton (originally called Hambledon), Gordonvale and Babinda, along with a network of tramways to bring the cane to the mills. The Mulgrave Mill at Gordonvale is served by 1768 km of tramways and Babinda has 1735 km of tramways. Gordonvale also has the unenviable place in history as being the locality at which 102 cane toads were released in an attempt to control cane beetles in June 1935. By the outbreak of WWII Cairns was established as a significant population centre providing services to a very large hinterland including Cape York, the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Australian territories of Papua and New Guinea. During the war most of the civilians were evacuated from the area and it came under military control. Cairns became a garrison town and was headquarters to all naval and air forces in the Pacific Theatre for several years. Major upgrading of the road network along the coast and onto the Atherton Tableland was undertaken to provide reliable links to the major training and medical facilities around Atherton. The Cairns airport was also substantially upgraded and expanded. Construction of the Tinaroo Falls Dam commenced in 1952 and was completed in 1958. It was constructed to provide irrigation water for the expanding agricultural sector on the Tableland and to guarantee water for the Barron Falls power station. By the late 1960s Cairns was well placed to become the centre for the growth in the tourist industry and to become a fly-in/fly-out service centre for new mining ventures in the Gulf, as well as PNG and the Indonesian Province of Papua. |
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Today: The total population of the degree square at the 2006 national Census was 143,720.
This population is predominantly urban. The Cairns metropolitan area, extending from Palm Cove in the north to Edmonton in the south had a population of 115,952 in 2006; Gordonvale had a population of 4891; Yarrabah's population was 2372; Kuranda's population was 2276; and the population of Babinda was 1166. On the Tableland, Malanda had a population of 1445; and Yungaburra had a population of 930. Each settlement has its own character and principal function. Cairns is the principal commercial, administrative, service and tourist centre of Far North Queensland. It is connected to Asian centres by international air links; its port provides export facilities for sugar and other produce and import of fuel and general cargo, as well as servicing a large tourist and leisure fleet; it is a base for naval and customs patrols of the Coral Sea and Torres Strait region; its facilities such as the Cairns Base Hospital provides medical services to the whole FNQ region as well as specialist treatment for people from PNG and other areas. It hosts a campus of James Cook University and numerous state and private schools. It has a wide range of accommodation for tourists ranging from backpackers and caravans to five star hotels. It is a bustling cosmopolitan city.
Gordonvale
remains the centre of the sugar industry with the Mulgrave Central
Mill the largest employer. The growth of Cairns to the south has
almost reached Gordonvale.
Malanda is the centre of a major dairying industry. One of the world's largest dairy factories provides the main source of employment here, and is supported by over 190 local dairy farmers. Milk products from Malanda are sent as far afield as Townsville and Alice Springs as well as being exported to PNG and Asia. Yungaburra is a heritage village, with most of its timber houses and shops dating from the early 1900s. It has a strong tourist industry and is the main centre for visitors to the crater lakes and Lake Tinaroo. These lakes are popular recreation places with Lake Tinaroo a major destination for fishermen chasing barramundi. Because it is an impoundment that is artificially stocked with fish there is no closed season.
Lake Tinaroo has a capacity of 439,000 megalitres and its waters are carried to farms as far away as Dimbulah through almost 200 km of main channels. The administration of the degree square is divided between the Cairns Regional, Tablelands Regional and Yarrabah Shire councils.
Site Summary:
Compiler: Ken Granger, 2009 Sources: various web sites including EPA, local governments, tourist industry and Bureau of Meteorology. Mothers Helping Others Inc., 2006: Cyclone Larry tales of survival from the children of North Queensland. EPA, 2001: Heritage trails of the tropical north, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane. Ken Granger, Trevor Jones, Marion Leiba and Greg Scott, 1999: Community risk in Cairns: a multi-hazard risk assessment, Australian Geological Survey Organisation (now Geoscience Australia), Canberra. |
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Last
updated 14 April 2009. For more information email admin@rgsq.org.au |
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