Cox River is a river of the Canterbury region of New Zealand. It arises in the Crawford Range of the Southern Alps and flows generally southward through the Arthur's Pass National Park to join the Poulter River.[1] The river was named for J. W. M. Cox, a landholder in the 1860s at the junction of Cox River and Bull Creek.[2]
| Cox River | |
|---|---|
 Route of the Cox River | |
.png)  Mouth of the Cox River   Cox River (New Zealand) (South Island) | |
| Location | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Crawford Range |
| • coordinates | 42°44′41″S 171°54′25″E / 42.7448°S 171.907°E |
| • elevation | 1,250 m (4,100 ft) |
| Mouth | |
• location | Poulter River |
• coordinates | 42°54′02″S 171°58′00″E / 42.90067°S 171.96676°E |
• elevation | 540 m (1,770 ft) |
| Length | 29 km (18 mi) |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Cox River → Poulter River East Branch → Poulter River → Waimakariri River → Pegasus Bay → Pacific Ocean |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Ellis Stream, Cochran Stream |
| • right | Montgomery Stream, Row Stream, Beckett Stream |
Geomorphology
editPrior to glaciation the Cox River flowed through the Pūkio Stream valley, discharging into the Esk River, a lower tributary of the Waimakariri River. This route was later blocked by a series of terminal moraines deposited by the Cox glacier during the Pleistocene period. The river then created a new outlet through to the main Poulter valley via a rocky gorge, known as McArthur Gorge, which now contains the East Branch of the Poulter.[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Peter Dowling, ed. (2004). Reed New Zealand Atlas. Reed Books. Map 70. ISBN 0-7900-0952-8.
- ^ Discover New Zealand:A Wises Guide (9th ed.). 1994. p. 372.
- ^ Gair, HS (11 April 1962). "Notes on the Geology of the Esk Valley, Canterbury". New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 5 (4). The Royal Society of New Zealand: 531–. Bibcode:1962NZJGG...5..531G. doi:10.1080/00288306.1962.10423093.