THE BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE EASTERN GOLDFIELDS OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA: PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 9 years ago

Introduction: The Sandstone-Sir Samuel and Laverton-Leonora Study Areas have an arid climate with cool winters and hot, dry summers. Rain falls in both the wann and cool seasons of the year. The climate has been classified as very dry and hot with the possibility of precipitation in any month (BWh), according to the classification of Koppen (Dick 1975). Following the Thornthwaite System, which is preferable to the Koppen system for Australian conditions (Gentilli 1948), the climate of the Sandstone-Sir Samuel and Laverton-Leonora Study Areas is Arid Mesothermal, with rainfall deficient in all seasons. Alternatively, the climate is Desert (UNESCO-FAO 1963), according to the system of Bagnouls and Gaussen (1957). Beard (1974, 1976) describes the Study Areas as Desert with bimodal (summer and winter) rainfall distribution.