Kikori River
The Kikori River is a major river in southern Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea. The river has a total length of and flows southeast into the Gulf of Papua, with its delta at the head of the gulf. The settlement of Kikori lies on the delta.
Course
The headwaters of the Kikori, the Hegigio and the Tagari, originate in the south-eastern part of the Muller plateau. The Hegigio descends through a wild gorge into the Papua Plain. From the mouth of the Mubi River, it is known as the Kikori and flows into the Gulf of Papua, with a large marshy delta.Geography and hydrology
The catchment area extends from alpine grasslands of the Southern Highlands to mangrove wetlands of the mouth at Gulf of Papua. The Kikori arises at the confluence of the Hegigio with the Mubi River or Digimu River, into which Lake Kutubu drained. The average rainfall in the Kikori catchment is.The city of the same name is located on the right bank just before its confluence with the delta.
The Kikori catchment area is very rain-fed and is classified as type Af according to the Köppen climate classification. The mountainous areas of the catchment cover large areas of karst. It is characterised by high biodiversity and sparsely populated areas. Average annual sediment load is 50 million tonnes.