The Fitzroy Contaminants Project - A Study of the Nutrient and Fine-sediment Dynamics of the Fitzroy Estuary and Keppel Bay

The Fitzroy catchment is the largest Queensland catchment discharging to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon. Sediments and nutrients together with anthropogenic pollutants originating upstream in the catchment are discharged from the Fitzroy River via the Fitzroy Estuary (FE) and ultimately into Keppel Bay (KB). The estuary and the bay act as natural chemical reactors where the materials delivered undergo chemical and physical transformations before some are deposited and stored in the growing deltaic and beach areas, with the remainder transported eastward to the southern zone of the GBR lagoon.

菲茨罗伊流域是昆士兰州境内注入大堡礁（Great Barrier Reef, GBR）潟湖的最大流域。该流域上游产生的沉积物、营养盐与人为污染物，经由菲茨罗伊河通过菲茨罗伊河口（Fitzroy Estuary, FE）最终排入凯珀尔湾（Keppel Bay, KB）。该河口与海湾充当天然化学反应器，输入的物质在此经历化学与物理转化过程：其中一部分被沉积并储存在不断扩张的三角洲与滩涂区域，剩余物质则向东输送至大堡礁潟湖南部海域。