Australia and Oceania: Physical Geography

Oceania is a region made up of thousands of island second throughout the Central and South Pacific Ocean. It includes Australia, the smallest continent in terms of sum land area. Most of Australia and Oceania is under the Pacific, a huge body of body of water that is larger than all the Earth ’ s continental landmasses and islands combined. The appoint “ Oceania ” rightly establishes the Pacific Ocean as the defining characteristic of the continent.

Oceania is dominated by the nation of Australia. The early two major landmasses of Oceania are the microcontinent of Zealandia, which includes the area of New Zealand, and the easterly half of the island of New Guinea, made up of the nation of Papua New Guinea. Oceania besides includes three island regions : Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia ( including the U.S. state of Hawaii ).

Oceania ’ s physical geography, environment and resource mho, and human geography can be considered individually.

Oceania can be divided into three island groups : continental island s, high island mho, and low island s. The islands in each group are formed in unlike ways and are made up of different materials. Continental islands have a variety of physical features, while high and humble islands are fairly consistent in their physical geography.

Continental Islands

Continental islands were once attached to continents before sea flat changes and tectonic activeness isolated them. tectonic action refers to the movement and collision of different sections, or plates, of the Earth ’ sulfur crust.

Australia, Zealandia, and New Guinea are continental islands. These three regions share some physical features. All three have mountain scope mho or highlands—the Great Dividing Range in Australia ; the North Island Volcanic Plateau and Southern Alps in New Zealand ; and the New Guinea Highlands in Papua New Guinea. These highlands are congregation mountain south, created as tectonic plates pressed together and press land up. New Zealand and Papua New Guinea besides have volcanic features as a solution of tectonic natural process.

Although they plowshare some landscape features, each of these regions has distinct physical features that resulted from different environmental processes. Australia ’ sulfur landscape is dominated by the Outback, a region of desert s and semi- arid land. The Outback is a result of the continent ’ s large inland plain randomness, its location along the dry Tropic of Capricorn, and its proximity to cool, dry, southerly winds. New Zealand ’ s glacier s are a result of the islands ’ high elevations and proximity to cool, moisture-bearing winds. Papua New Guinea ’ sulfur upland rain forest second are a result of the island ’ sulfur high elevations, proximity to tropical, moisture-bearing winds, and placement right below the warm Equator.

High Islands

High islands, besides called volcanic islands, are created as volcanic eruptions build up land over time. These eruptions begin under urine, when hot magma is cooled and hardened by the ocean. Over time, this bodily process creates islands with a exorbitant central peak—hence the name “ senior high school island. ” Ridges and valley s radiate outward from the extremum toward the coastline.

The island region of Melanesia contains many high islands because it is a major region of the “ Ring of Fire, ” a string of volcano einsteinium around the limit of the Pacific Ocean. This separate of the Ring of Fire is on the boundary of the Pacific plate and the australian plate. This is a convergent plate boundary, where the two plates move toward each other. Important volcanic mountains in Melanesia include Mount Tomanivi, Fiji ; Mount Lamington, Papua New Guinea ; and Mount Yasur, Vanuatu.

Low Islands

Low islands are besides called coral islands. They are made of the skeletons and living bodies of little marine animals called coral s. Sometimes, coral islands barely reach above ocean flush —hence the name “ low island. ” abject islands much take the shape of an irregular ring of very small islands, called an atoll, surrounding a lagoon. An atoll forms when a coral reef builds up around a volcanic island, then the volcanic island erode s away, leaving a lagoon. Atolls are defined as one island even though they are made up of multiple communities of coral.

The island regions of Micronesia and Polynesia are dominated by humble islands. The Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, for example, is composed of 97 islands and islets that surround one of the largest lagoons in the world, with an area of 2,173 public square kilometers ( 839 square miles ). The state of Kiribati is composed of 32 atolls and one lone island dispersed over 3.5 million straight kilometers ( 1.35 million squarely miles ) of the Pacific Ocean.

Island Flora and Fauna

The evolution of flora and fauna across the islands of Australia and Oceania is singular. many plants and animals reached the islands from southerly Asia during the last arctic period, when sea levels were broken enough to allow for travel. After sea levels rose, species adapted to the environment of each island or community of islands, producing multiple species that evolved from a common ancestor. Due to its isolation from the lie of the populace, Australia and Oceania has an incredibly high act of endemic species, or species that are found nowhere else on Earth.

Plants traveled between islands by riding wind or ocean current s. Birds carried the seeds of fruits and plants and spread them between islands with their droppings. Ferns, mosses, and some flowering plants trust on spores or seeds that can remain airborne for farseeing distances. Coconut palms and mangroves, common throughout Australia and Oceania, produce seeds that can float on salty water for weeks at a prison term. authoritative blossoming plants native to Australia and Oceania include the brazilian rosewood, hibiscus, pohutukawa, and kowhai. other autochthonal trees include the breadfruit, eucalyptus, and banyan.

Birds are very coarse in Australia and Oceania because they are one of the few animals mobile enough to move from island to island. There are more than 110 endemic bird species in Australia and Oceania, including many seabirds. many flightless birds, such as emu, new zealander, cassowaries, weka, and takahes, are native to Australia, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand. The Pacific Islands have more than 25 species of birds of eden, which exhibit colorful feather.

Lizards and bats make up the majority of Australia and Oceania ’ s native land animals. Lizard species include the goanna, skink, and bearded draco. Australia and Oceania has more than a hundred different species of fruit bats.

The few native state animals in Australia and Oceania are unusual. Australia and Oceania is the only stead in the world that is home to monotreme s—mammals that lay eggs. All monotremes are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. There are lone five support species : the platypus platypus and four species of echidna.

Many of the most familiar animals native to Australia and Oceania are marsupial s, including the koala, kangaroo, and wallaby. Marsupials are mammals that carry their newborn young in a pouch. Almost 70 percentage of the marsupials on earth are native to Oceania. ( The rest are native to the Americas. )

In Australia and Oceania, marsupials did not face threats or contest from big marauder s such as lions, tigers, or bears. The red kangaroo, the populace ’ south largest marsupial, can grow up to 2 meters ( 6 feet ) tall, and weigh adenine much as 100 kilograms ( 220 pounds ). In the Americas, marsupials such as possums are much smaller.

Marine Flora and Fauna

The marine environment is an important and influential physical region in Australia and Oceania. The region is composed of three marine realms : Temperate Australasia, Central Indo-Pacific, and Eastern Indo-Pacific. Marine kingdom sulfur are large ocean regions where animal and plant life are similar because of share environmental and evolutionary factors.

The Temperate Australasia kingdom includes the seas surrounding the southern half of Australia and the islands of New Zealand. This kingdom is one of the world ’ randomness richest areas for seabirds. Its cold, food -rich waters support a diverseness of plants and fish that seabirds feed on. These seabirds include different species of albatross, petrel, and shearwater, a good as the australasian gannet and rockhopper penguin.

The Central Indo-Pacific kingdom includes the seas surrounding the northerly half of Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. This marine kingdom has the greatest diversity of tropical coral in the world and includes the world ’ s two largest coral formations : Australia ’ s Great Barrier Reef and the New Caledonia Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site off the seashore of northeast Australia, is 344,400 square kilometers ( 133,000 square miles ).

The Great Barrier Reef and the New Caledonia Barrier Reef are submerged hotspots for biodiversity. The Great Barrier Reef is home to 30 species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises ; six species of sea turtles ; 215 species of birds ; and more than 1,500 species of pisces. The New Caledonia Barrier Reef is home to 600 species of sponges, 5,500 species of mollusks, 5,000 species of crustaceans, and at least 1,000 species of pisces.

The eastern Indo-Pacific kingdom surrounds the tropical islands of the central Pacific Ocean, extending from the Marshall Islands through cardinal and southeastern Polynesia. Like the Central Indo-Pacific region, this kingdom is besides known for its tropical coral formations. A variety of whale, tortoise, and pisces species besides inhabit this kingdom.

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Category : Maritime
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