Tasman River | |
Pushpin Map: | New Zealand#New Zealand South Island |
Pushpin Map Size: | 270px |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Mouth of the Tasman River |
Source1 Location: | Tasman Lake |
Source1 Coordinates: | -43.7064°N 170.1717°W |
Source1 Elevation: | 715m (2,346feet)[1] |
Mouth Location: | Lake Pukaki |
Mouth Elevation: | 518to[2] |
Mouth Coordinates: | -43.905°N 170.175°W |
Subdivision Type1: | Country |
Subdivision Name1: | New Zealand |
Length: | 25km (16miles)[3] |
Progression: | Tasman River → Lake Pukaki → Pukaki River → Tekapo River → Lake Benmore → Lake Aviemore → Lake Waitaki → Waitaki River → Pacific Ocean |
Tributaries Left: | Gorilla Stream, Oatmeal Creek, Chop Creek, Parsons Creek, Lily Stream, Bullrock Stream, Andrews Creek, Waits Creek, Joes Creek, McLeod Creek, Micks Creek, Jollie River, Coxs Creek |
Tributaries Right: | Blue Stream, Hooker River, Black Birch Stream, Sawyer Stream, Birch Hill Stream, Elbow Stream, Freds Stream, Bush Stream, Slip Stream |
The Tasman River is an alpine braided river flowing through Canterbury, in New Zealand's South Island.
The river's headwaters are in Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, where it is the outflow of the proglacial Tasman Lake. It is also fed by the glacial waters of the tributary Murchison River, from Murchison Glacier, and the short Hooker River, an outflow of the proglacial lakes of the Hooker and Mueller glaciers.
The Tasman River flows south for 25km (16miles) through the wide flat-bottomed Tasman Valley in the Southern Alps and into the northern end of the glacial Lake Pukaki, this forming part of the ultimate headwaters of the Waitaki hydroelectric scheme.
In 2019 a report was released giving the results of a pilot study on the invertebrate biodiversity present in the Tasman River flood plain.[4]