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Australian Geography Notes
2009 Half-Yearly
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Australian Geography Notes- Australia

 Southern hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere

Northern and Southern hemispheres are divided by the Equator

The Eastern and Western hemispheres are divided by the Prime Meridian and 180° line of longitude

Latitude and Longitude

To locate places more accurately on a world map, latitude and longitude are used.

Latitude: parallel to the equator and are measured in degrees north and south.
Their values range from 0° at the equator to 90°N at the North Pole and 90°S at the South Pole

Other lines of latitude with special names are:

 Tropic of Cancer 23 ½°N
 Tropic of Capricorn 23 ½°S
 Arctic Circle 66 ½°N
 Antarctic Circle 66 ½°S

Longitude: run from pole to pole and are not parallel. They are measured in degrees east and west
of the Prime Meridian.

Their values range from 0° at the Prime Meridian to 180° on the opposite side of the globe. The
International Date Line closely follows the 180° line of longitude.

Australia is found between 10°S - 44°S and 113°E - 154°E

*Remember North or South before East or West For example. Canberra is 35°S 149°E.
Terra Australis- (Latin) Southern Land
Neighbours
North
- Papua New Guinea
- East Timor
North West
- Indonesia
South East
- New Zealand
East
- Pacific islands e.g. Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands

Size
- Only continental land mass occupied by one country
- Smallest continent
- 6th largest country- 7.6 million square kilometres
- Driest and flattest

Shape
- Compact

Why might shape be important?

Australia’s shape contributes to the dry conditions experienced by most of the country (rainfall
decreases as you move away from large bodies)

Coastline
- 5th longest coastline, 36 000 kilometres

The problems of the length of coastline

- Difficult to secure against the arrival of illegal immigrants and the smuggling of goods

Extremities

North: Cape York Peninsula, Queensland

South (mainland): Wilsons Promontory, Victoria

South: South East Cape, Tasmania

West: Steep Point, Western Australia

East: Cape Byron, New South Wales

Australia is divided into 6 states and 2 territories
1. New South Wales
2. Western Australia
3. Queensland
4. Victoria
5. Southern Australia
6. Northern Territory
7. Australian Capital Territory (capital)
8. Tasmania

Aboriginal Perspective on the origins of the land

The Dreamtime

- All things were created by spirit ancestors (supernatural beings)

- Their journeys created the landscape
- In many dreamtime stories there are animals or mythical creatures that change to become
landforms. The Rainbow serpent is particularly significant.

The Dreaming

- The Dreaming is the continuation of those spirit ancestors in the relationships between all
living and non-living things
- Dreaming stories contain valuable lessons about how to survive
- Each Aboriginal group has its own knowledge which is sacred and is passed on by elders in
stories, music and art
- The common theme in all stories is the spiritual presence that continue to inhabit landforms

Land

 The distinction between land and people is puzzling to indigenous groups. Although their
languages and stories vary, all aborigines regard the physical and human elements of their
environment as part of the same interconnected ‘country’.

Geographical Perspective on the origins of Australia

Continental drift: The movement of the Earth’s continents

The Earth’s surface is made of tectonic plates that float on the molten layer beneath.

Convection currents in the Earth’s interior cause these plates to move.

It is the tectonic processes that are responsible for creating major landforms.
 1. The continents were once connected into a supercontinent called Pangaea.
2. This then split into two major continents. Australia was part of Gondwana.
3. Gondwana started to split up to form the continents we know today including Australia.

Australia now moves north 2 centimetres each year. Water is the main agent of erosion.

Fossils and rock prove the existence of the supercontinent

Australia’s major landforms and drainage basins

Australia has three major physical regions:

 The Western Plateau

 The Central Lowlands
 The Eastern Highlands

The Australian Alps

 Stretch from Canberra to Melbourne.

 All the mountains that are above 2000m high are found in this area (incl. Mt Kosciusko
2228m)
 Been subject to erosion and weathering over millions of years. Water is the main agent of
erosion.

Uluru

 Located south-west of Alice springs

 It is the second largest monolith in the world
 Changes colour throughout the day due to the way the sun’s rays pass through the
atmosphere

Rivers and Drainage basins

A drainage basin is an area of land that is drained by a river and its tributaries.

Murray-Darling Basin

 Contains the three longest rivers in Australia

~ The Murray (central and northern Victoria)
~ The Darling (drains northern half of the basin)
~ The Murrumbidgee (drains central and southern New South Wales)

Lake Eyre

 Largest drainage basin in Australia

 Area is flat so they flow slowly and large amounts of water are lost through evaporation
 Runs through Queensland, South Australia, Northern Territory
Australia’s Climate

Wide range of climates due to its location and extent

 40%- lies within the tropics, where it swarm all year and there are only two seasons—wet
and dry.
 The remainder lies in the temperate zone and experiences four seasons- Summer, Winter,
Autumn, Spring.

Factors influencing Australia’s climate

 Latitude- The earth receives more of the sun’s energy at the Equator than at the poles so
temperatures decrease as latitude increases.

 Distance from the coast- The sea has a moderating effect so temperatures ranges are less at
the coast than inland. Onshore winds bring higher precipitation to coastal areas.

 Ocean currents- Currents near the poles bring cooler conditions and those from the equator
bring warmer conditions.

 Direction of prevailing winds- Winds from nearer the Equator are warmer than those from
nearer the poles.

 Relief- Temperature decreases with height and receives more precipitation.

 Pressure systems- High pressure associated with sinking air brings dry settled weather. Low
pressure caused by rising air brings unsettled weather.

Pattern of vegetation

Australia’s natural vegetation is very diverse,

 It ranges from the tropical rainforests to desert vegetation of the arid interior.
 In between these extremes are forests and woodlands dominated by eucalyptus and acacias.

The most significant relationship between climate and vegetation in Australia, is as rainfall decreases
towards the centre of the continent trees give way to shrubs and low growing desert plants.

Patterns of unique flora and fauna

Fauna

 Australia has a very high proportion of endemic species—species found nowhere else in the
world
 This is because Australia has been isolated for millions of years. This has allowed plants and
animals to evolve separately and due to the stability of the continent have survived.
Marsupials and Monotremes

Marsupial: pouched animals e.g. koalas, kangaroos, wallaby, possum

Monotremes: egg-laying e.g. platypus, echidna

Flora

There are three characteristics that are common in Australian plants:

The ability to withstand:

1. Fire
2. Drought
3. Salt

Natural Resources

Resources: materials that can be used by humans

Renewable: a natural resource that can be used again as it is reproduce during a humans lifetime

Non-renewable: a natural resource that cannot be used again as it is not reproduced within our
lifetime

Soil- essential to Australia’s agriculture

 Australia has shallow soils with low fertility, this is the result of climatic factors
 Soil formation is a slow process which means it is non renewable

Forests- The forests are important for:

 Timber supply
 Biodiversity and ecosystem protection
 Containing the cultural heritage

More attention needs to be paid to sustainable forest management as the excessive rate of land
clearing is reducing forest resources.

Fishing- Fish farming or aquaculture is of growing importance but overfishing of fishing grounds,
oceans and rivers, is a problem

It is necessary to put limits on fishing to allow fish populations to recover.

Uranium Mining

All the uranium used in Australia is used for power generation but uranium can also be used for
nuclear weapons which is one of the reason uranium mining is so controversial.

Advantages

 Uranium exports are worth millions of dollars- boosting economy

 Provide employment in remote rural areas
 Australia only sells uranium to countries that use it for peaceful purposes
 Every tonne of mined uranium used for fuel in place of coal saves the emissions of 40 000
tonnes of carbon dioxide

Disadvantages

 Negative impact on aboriginal culture and sacred sites. The Jubiluka mine went ahead
without aboriginal consent
 Uranium fuel can be used for nuclear weapons
 Exposes people to health risks
 Fears that uranium fuel may get into wrong hands of terrorists

Natural hazards

1. Bushfires- the combustion or burning of bush forest or woodland area

2. Droughts- A critical shortage of water in a particular location that has occurred over a period
of 6 months
3. Floods- Increase in the volume of water in a river system such that the banks are broken and
water drowns the surrounding area
4. Storms- Damage to a particular location caused by rain, hail, winds, flash flooding or
tornadoes
5. Earthquakes- sudden movement in the earth’s crust caused by movements of the
continental plates
6. Tropical cyclones- Intense low pressure systems with extremely strong winds and unsettled
weather

Types of natural hazards

 Realted to weather and climatic factors (the rest)

 Related to movements in the earth’s crusts (earthquakes)
Impacts

 Social impacts- loss of life, stress placed on people and community, the destruction of
community structures and facilities

 Economic impacts- loss of income for people or damage to an industry, loss and destruction
of property, and insurance losses

 Environmental impacts- the destruction of the natural and human environment, death of
and injury to wildlife, changes to environment

A natural hazard can become a disaster when it hits a community because of impacts it puts.

The impact of natural hazards in Australia has been minimal because:

~ Stable continent
~ Well constructed homes
~ Are not a densely populated nation
~ Well prepared and have resources to get through it
~ Developed country