Lake Carnegie is predominantly surrounded by desert environments.[5] It lies east of Wiluna, at the southern edge of the Little Sandy Desert, and at the southwestern border of the Gibson Desert. It is northeast of Leonora and northwest of the Great Central Road and the Great Victoria Desert. Lake Carnegie is north of the main region of gold fields in Western Australia.[6]
The lake is approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) in length and approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) at its widest part. It has a total area of approximately 5,714 square kilometres (2,206 sq mi),[7][8] making it one of the largest lakes in Australia. The surface elevation is 439 m (1,440 ft) above mean sea-level.[9]
Lake Carnegie fills with water only during very rare periods of significant rainfall, such as during the huge 1900 floods, and in numerous recent tropical wet seasons when climate change has moved the monsoon and tropical cyclones south. In dry years, it is reduced to a muddy marsh.
In 1973 Tropical Cyclone Kerry crossed the northwest coast and moved southwest as far as the northern gold fields. Over a four-day period, nearby pastoral leases such as Windidda Station received falls of 310 millimetres (12 in), while Prenti Downs received 209 millimetres (8 in). The runoff was enormous, causing widespread flooding, with the lake overflowing and leaving the area between Carnegie and Wiluna "one huge lake".[10]
Water entering the lake, unlike in more easterly playas of the Australian arid zone, does not come from well-defined river channels. The soils of the region are so weathered – lacking tectonic or glacial activity since the Carboniferousice ages – that sediment is completely absent; the terrain is so flat that only the rocks most impervious to weathering remain on the surface. Well-defined river channels cannot form, especially since the extreme age of the soils and consequent high rooting density of native flora limit runoff to an extreme degree.
Climate
Lake Carnegie has a hot desert climate (Köppen): BWh, with very hot summers and mild winters. Precipitation is low and erratic year-round, with a strong summer peak.
Climate data for Carnegie (25º48'S, 122º58'E, 448 m AMSL) (1988-2024 normals and extremes, rainfall 1942-2024)
The lake area is bounded by Windidda, Yelma, Wongawel, Niminga, Carnegie and Prenti Downs pastoral leases, otherwise known in Western Australia as stations.[12]
^Carnegie, David W. (David Wynford) (1973), Spinifex and sand : a narrative of five years pioneering and exploration in Western Australia (facsimile ed.), Penguin Books Australia, ISBN978-0-14-070036-7
^Peasley, W. J. (William John); Peasley, William J (2013), In the hands of providence : the desert journeys of David Carnegie, Carlisle, Western Australia Hesperian press, ISBN978-0-85905-530-7
^Beard, J.S. (1969) The Natural Regions of the Deserts of Western Australia Journal of Ecology, 1 November 1969, Vol.57(3), pp. 677–711
^Western Australia. Dept. of Mines.
Title [Portion of Western Australian goldfields]. Litho. no. 114. Sheet 3 [cartographic material][Perth, W.A. : Dept. of Mines?], 1906.Notes Shows roads, tracks, stock routes, railroads, topography and mining area boundaries. Relief shown by hachures and spot heights.1.10.06" Covers in the East from Doolgunna south to Lakes Barlee and Giles to a western line from Lake Carnegie south to Edjudina Soak. Held in Battye Library
^Linke, Gladys (1996), And if her droughts are bitter, Hesperian Press, ISBN978-0-85905-228-3 - Linke's book included time living at Carnegie station, which is located to the north east of the Lake
