Lake Gault

LocationFox Glacier, West Coast, South Island

Coordinates43°25′49″S 169°59′05″E / 43.43028°S 169.98472°E

Surface area31.8 ha (79 acres)

Average depth14.5 m (48 ft)

Lake Gault
Lake Gault
Lake Gault
Location	Fox Glacier, West Coast, South Island
Coordinates	43°25′49″S 169°59′05″E / 43.43028°S 169.98472°E / -43.43028; 169.98472

Surface area	31.8 ha (79 acres)
Average depth	14.5 m (48 ft)
Surface elevation	333 m (1,093 ft)
Location

Lake Gault is a small glacial lake in South Westland, New Zealand, near the township of Fox Glacier. A walking track from Lake Matheson leads to the lake, which is surrounded by mature native forest. A small hydro-electric power plant was constructed piping water from the lake to power a gold mining dredge at Gillespies Beach. Endangered Ōkārito kiwi (rowi) have been released into the wild around Lake Gault.

Lake Gault is located at an altitude of 333 m (1,093 ft) in the Omoeroa Range. It has an area of 31.8 ha (79 acres) and an average depth of 14.5 m (48 ft). Its only access is via a 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) walking track that climbs 200 metres (660 ft) from the eastern shore of Lake Matheson.^[1] The lake was created by glacial advance and retreat about 16,000 years ago, when moraines were deposited by what is now Fox Glacier in the Okarito Formation.^[2]

Lake Gault drains into pakihi wetland to the north, part of Skiffington Swamp, which is itself drained to the west by the Waihapi Creek and to the east by the Hauraki Creek, both of which reach the coast of the Tasman Sea between Gillespies Point and the mouth of the Waikūkūpa River.^[3]

Like nearby Lake Matheson, Lake Gault is dystrophic: its water is stained brown in colour with tannins leached from surrounding forest, low in nutrients, acidic, and has a sparse and specialised phytoplankton.^[4]^[5] And as in Lake Matheson the dark water creates spectacular reflected views of the Southern Alps, especially Aoraki / Mount Cook and Mount Tasman.^[6]^[7]

History

A pipeline takes water from Lake Gault over the ridgeline to a small hydroelectric power station on the Cook River flats. Built in the 1930s, the station powered a gold-mining dredge that worked the sands of Gillespies Beach 15 km to the west through to the 1940s.^[6] In 1958 an earth dam was constructed between Lake Gault and Skiffington Swamp to the north to raise the lake level: by this time the hydroelectric plant was powering the village of Fox Glacier.^[2]

v t e Landforms of Westland District, New Zealand
Alpine passes	Arthur's Pass Browning Pass / Nōti Raureka Copland Pass Haast Pass
Bays	Bruce Bay Jackson Bay
Canyons, gorges and waterfalls	Fantail Falls Gates of Haast Hokitika Gorge Otira Gorge Roaring Billy Falls Thunder Creek Falls
Glaciers	Agassiz Glacier Douglas Glacier Fox Glacier Franz Josef Glacier Garden of Eden Ice Plateau Olivine Ice Plateau Volta Glacier
Headlands	Abut Head Awarua Point Gillespies Point Knights Point
Islands	Bignell Reef Browne Island Open Bay Islands
Lakes and lagoons	Abel Lake Alpine Lake / Ata Puai Lake Ellery Lake Gault Lake Ianthe Lake Kaurapataka Lake Kaniere Lake Mahinapua Lake Mapourika Lake Matheson Lake Moeraki Ōkārito Lagoon Lake Paringa Saltwater Lagoon Lake Wahapo
Mountain ranges	Butler Range Southern Alps
Mountains	Mount Adams Aoraki / Mount Cook Mount Aspiring / Tititea Mount Brewster Mount Dampier Mount Graham Mount Haast Mount Hopkins La Perouse Lendenfeld Peak Mount Rolleston Mount Sefton Silberhorn Mount Tasman Mount Vancouver Mount Whitcombe
River flats	Pleasant Flat
Rivers	Adams River Arahura River Arawhata River Balfour River Barlow River Barn River Bettne River Big Wainihinihi River Burke River Butler River Callery River Cascade River Clarke River Clearwater River Cook River / Weheka Copland River Cropp River Deception River Donald River Douglas River Drake River Duncan River Edison River Fork River Fox River Gorge River Gunn River Haast River Hacket River Hall River Hapuka River Harman River Hinatua River Hokitika River Hope River Jackson River Jerry River Kaniere River Karangarua River Kokatahi River Lambert River Landsborough River Lord River Macfarlane River Mahitahi River Jacobs River Manakaiaua River Maori River Martyr River Mikonui River Moeraki River Morse River Mueller River Mungo River Ngatau River North Barlow River Ohinemaka River Ōhinetamatea River Ōkārito River Okuru River Ōmoeroa River Oneone River Otehake River Ōtira River Ōtoko River Paringa River Perth River Poerua River Rolleston River Rotokino River Ruera River Ship Creek Smoothwater River Smyth River Spoon River Stafford River Strauchon River Styx River Taipo River Taramakau River Te Naihi River Te Rahotaiepa River Toaroha River Tōtara River Totarakaitorea River Troyte River Tuke River Turnbull River Waiatoto River Waiho River Waikūkūpa River Waipara River Waita River Waitaha River Waitangitāhuna River Waitangiroto River Wanganui River Whakaikai River Whakapohai River Whataroa River Whitcombe River Wilkinson River Willberg River Williamson River Wills River

History

Lake Gault Track

Flora and fauna

References

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