|
Draining the
northwestern quarter of the Maroochy Catchment,
the North Maroochy River rises in the steep,
forested slopes of the Blackall Ranges, and
confluences with the South Maroochy River near
the town of Yandina to form the Maroochy
Estuary.
The landform of
the upper subcatchment is mostly steep hills
formed of volcanics, intrusives and metamorphic
geology. The drainage lines in this area tend to
be steeply angled and incised, ephemeral low
order streams flowing swiftly over rocky beds.
Midway down the subcatchment is an area of low
rolling hills on Laterised Rhyolite.
As the river
channel increases in size, small, discontinuous
valley flats develop into a continuous, almost
level floodplain on unconsolidated freshwater
sediments of gravel, sand, silt and clay. This
is confined to a narrow corridor by the low
steep hills that bound the subcatchment.
Remnant
vegetation covers approximately one third of the
subcatchment area, about two thirds of which is
on freehold land.
The
upper subcatchment supports tall open forests of
Blackbutt (Eucalyptus pilularis) and Grey
Gum (Eucalyptus punctata). Other tree
species found on these crests and upper slopes
are Tallowwood (Eucalyptus microcorys)
and Turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera).
North Maroochy
River near the confluence with the South
Maroochy River. River bank vegetation can be
seen on the left side.
|
