Surreal Purari Delta 3

The Oblong: The Purari Delta is one of a number of large deltaic complexes which border the Gulf of Papua. Along with the Fly, the Kikori and many other rivers, the Purari drains the western and central highland region of Papua New Guinea. Upper sections of these rivers are located in highly mountainous terrain reaching 4,510 metres or 14,800 feet at Mt. Wilhelm, with steeply descending valleys debouching onto a deltaic plain 30 to 50 kilometres (19 to 31 mi) wide. Average annual rainfalls ranging from 2,000 to 8,500 millimetres (80 to 330 in) in the catchment of the Purari result in a mean annual discharge at delta of about 105 km3/a (3,300 m3/s), carrying 88.6 million m3/year of sediment into the delta (Pickup 1980; this volume). These inputs provide the material for a major deltaic complex of global significance.