Northern Shelf Province

The Northern Shelf Province, also known as Arnhem Coast to Gulf of Carpentaria,[1] is a biogeographic region of Australia's continental shelf. It includes the coastal waters of Arnhem Land and the Gulf of Carpentaria in Northern Australia.

Map of the Northern Shelf Province

Geography

The Northwest Shelf Transition includes the coastal waters and continental shelf of Northern Australia, extending from the Northern Territory's Tiwi Islands eastwards along the coast of Arnhem Land and the Gulf of Carpentaria to Cape York.

The Northwest Shelf Transition lies to the west, and the Northeast Shelf Transition to the northeast. To the north the shallow continental shelf extends outside Australian waters to New Guinea.[2]

Meso-scale bioregions

The Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia (IMCRA) identifies ten distinct meso-scale bioregions that make up the province.[3]

  • Van Diemens Gulf (VDG)
  • Cobourg (COB)
  • Arafura (ARA)
  • Arnhem Wessel (AWS)
  • Carpentaria (CAR)
  • Groote (GRO)
  • Pellew (PEL)
  • Wellesley (WLY)
  • Karumba-Nassau (KAN)
  • West Cape York (WCY)

References
  1. Mark D. Spalding; Helen E. Fox; Gerald R. Allen; et al. (1 July 2007). "Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas" (PDF). BioScience. 57 (7): 573–583. doi:10.1641/B570707. ISSN 0006-3568. Wikidata Q55877681.
  2. "A Guide to the Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia Version 4.0". Department of Environment and Heritage, Government of Australia. June 2006. ISBN 0 642 552274.
  3. Thackway R, Cresswell ID (1998), Interim Marine and Coastal Regionalisation for Australia: An Ecosystem-based Classification for Marine and Coastal Environments. Version 3.3 (PDF), Canberra (Australia): Environment Australia, Commonwealth Department of the Environment
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