Blue Lake (New South Wales)

The Blue Lake is one of only four cirque lakes found in mainland Australia, the other three, Cootapatamba, Albina, and Club are shallower than BL and are held entirely by terminal moraines. Its valley contains the best-developed glacial features in the Kosciuszko National Park alpine area of New South Wales. It was recognised as a wetland of international importance on 17 March 1996 when a 320ha area, comprising the lake and its surrounds, including nearby Hedley Tarn, was designated Ramsar Site 800 under the Ramsar Convention on wetlands. DescriptionBlue Lake is 16ha in area and deep. Its surface is entirely open water, with boulders reaching the shore in the east and north east, and the other shores being pebbly. It lies about west of Jindabyne and north of Charlotte Pass at an altitude of above mean sea level, in a glacial landscape. The lake was formed when glaciers flowing from the Great Dividing Range converged and carved out a basin in the granite bedrock. It receives water from Blue Lake Creek, originating from Mount Twynam and from snowmelt. The surface of the lake is frozen for about four months of the year; it overflows in spring with the melting of the snow while, during the rest of the year, the water level remains stable.

The Blue Lake is one of only four cirque lakes found in mainland Australia, the other three, Cootapatamba, Albina, and Club are shallower than BL and are held entirely by terminal moraines. Its valley contains the best-developed glacial features in the Kosciuszko National Park alpine area of New South Wales. It was recognised as a wetland of international importance on 17 March 1996 when a 320ha area, comprising the lake and its surrounds, including nearby Hedley Tarn, was designated Ramsar Site 800 under the Ramsar Convention on wetlands. DescriptionBlue Lake is 16ha in area and deep. Its surface is entirely open water, with boulders reaching the shore in the east and north east, and the other shores being pebbly. It lies about west of Jindabyne and north of Charlotte Pass at an altitude of above mean sea level, in a glacial landscape. The lake was formed when glaciers flowing from the Great Dividing Range converged and carved out a basin in the granite bedrock. It receives water from Blue Lake Creek, originating from Mount Twynam and from snowmelt. The surface of the lake is frozen for about four months of the year; it overflows in spring with the melting of the snow while, during the rest of the year, the water level remains stable.