The outflow of humic rich water from the Detention River, Hellyer into Bass Strait, Tasmania

摘要

At 1414 on 11 August 2019 one of us (geologist GMcA) was flying at 2000 ft altitude along the coast of northern Tasmania where the Detention River flows by the town of Hellyer and into Bass Strait. Continuous 5-second interval photography revealed a complex pattern within the plume of dark humicrich water from the river as it spread out to sea. High humic content is a feature of many inland Tasmanian waters attributable to the low mineral input and high organic content of soils. The tide at nearby Stanley was 20 minutes before low, having fallen 2 m in the previous 6 hours.