The Land

The Land

1. Australia

   • Continent and country, and it isn't considered an island because of its size
   • Mountains and Plateaus
     • Australia is mostly flat except for the Great Dividing Range on the eastern coast.
       • The range extends from the Cape York Peninsula to Tasmania which broke away from Australia a long time ago
         • Most of the Rivers begin in the Diving Range
     • The Western Plateau is flat land in central and western Australia and it covers two thirds of the continent
       • It is also referred to as the outback
         • the three deserts are the Gibson, Sandy and Victoria
           • Towards the south coast, the Nullarbor Plain which means ¨no trees.¨it ends abruptly with a cliff on the Australian BIght
   • Central Lowlands
     • The central lowlands separates the outback and the Great Diving Range
       • contains arid grasslands and desert and stretches across the east central part of Australia
         • The Murray and Darling are the two rivers that supply water for farming year round because most of them dry up
           • The Great Artesian Basin is underneath the low lands but the water is too salty to drink, so ranchers use it for livestock
   • Great Barrier Reef
     • It lies on the northeastern coast and is the world's largest coral reef
       • It is a world Heritage Site named by the United Nations, and also a national park
         • It is string of 2,300 small reefs formed from coral and extends 1,250 miles
   • Natural Resources
     • only 10 percent of the land on Australia is arable, but argiculture is still important
       • they grow wheat, barley, fruit, sugarcane. Ranchers raise cattle, sheep, and chicken in drier areas
         • one fourth of the world Bauxite is in Australia, which is the raw material for aluminum

2. Oceania

   • Island Clusters
     • The three main clusters are Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia
       • They extend from Midway Island which is in the north and New Zealand in the south.
   • Island Type
     • Low Islands
       • atolls that surround lagoons filled with coral reefs formed through submerged volcanoes
         • There is little soil and natural resources
     • Continental Islands
       • Formed through seabed that rose above the water. and most of the continental islands are large
         • Lots of them have volcanoes
     • High Islands
       • Earthquakes and eruptions still occur in these islands because they have a mountain or mountain ranges within the central, and coastal plains
         • volcanic soil is good for agriculture

3. New Zealand

   • North Island
   • South Island

4. Antarctica