What makes Australia Unique?
- World’s lowest continent – average elevation very low and country is a broad flat plain
- Geologically Stable – Oldest land surfaces on Earth, only continent with no active volcanoes
- Driest inhabited continent – more than 1/3 is arid
- Poor soils – old, no tectonic activity, dry, topsoils very thin
- Fire-prone – fires occur anytime of the year
- Rich in minerals
- World’s largest island
- World’s largest coral reef – GBR
Location
- latitudes of 10°41`S – 43°39`S
- Longitudes of 113°09`E ad 153°39`S
Size
- 7 682 300 square km
- 6th largest country
Shape
- compact
- no significant inland bodies of water
- Adds to dry conditions experienced across the land mass
Origins – geographical
- 200 million years ago = pangea
- 10 million years later pangea split into Laurasia and Gondwanaland
- Gradually the continents drifted too present location due to continental drift.
Origins – Aboriginal
- believe that everything around them exists because of the DREAMING a past that continues to exist in the present and the future
- Spiritual ancestors wandered the Earth as animals some went to the sky to create the heavens and others stayed on Earth.
Australian Landforms
- Eastern Highlands (great dividing range) – 10% of continent, folded and faulted igneous rock
- Coastal Plains – narrow plain that extends along the eastern edge of the continent, densely settled.
- Central Lowlands – ¼ of continent, low lying, less than 200m above sea level, Lake Eyre, composed of sediments deposited on the floor of ancient inland sea
- Western Plateau – 2/3 of continent, stable block of ancient igneous and metamorphic rock, flat and low, dry.
Drainage Basins
- defined as an area of land that is drained by a river and its tributaries
- 245 in Australia
- Watershed – is defined as a ridge of high land dividing two areas that are drained by different river system.
Australia’s Soils
- Oldest
- Least Fertile
- We depend on our soils as it is a resource on which all land-based life depends
- Soils are made up of inorganic (sand clay etc.) and organic (decaying matter).
- Soils are fragile and easily degraded (loss of biodiversity) by the activities of people
- Australian’s soils are so ancient because of erosion, leaching, chemical weathering, no volcanic activity.
Australia’s Weather and climate
- El Nino causes drought
- La Nina = rain
- High temperatures in Australia are common
- Australia is so dry as 80% receives less than 600mm
- Factors affecting this dryness is the cold ocean currents off west coast of Australia (low evaporation), Flatness of the continent (no orographic rainfall), Dominance of high pressure systems (stable conditions), Shape of continent (no large inland bodies of water).
Australia’s flora
- Australia separated from the rest of Gondwana 30 to 40 million years ago meaning the flora is distinctive
- 80% of plants are endemic due to isolations
- 20000 native species of plants in Australia
- There is a dominance of Eucalypts
- They have small, hard, leathery and spiny leaves to adapt to the low nutrient soils and the dry conditions
- Plants like this are called sclerophylls
4 types of places Eucalypts are found
1. Wet Sclerophyll Forests
- occupy moist gullies and southern aspect of hillsides
- normally found in areas of high rainfall
- E.g. Jarrah Forests WA
2. Dry Sclerophyll Forests
- Found where there is low-nutrient soils
- can withstand drought
- can regenerate after fires
3. Eucalypt Woodlands
- combination of Eucalypts and grasslands
4. Mallee Woodlands
- small eucalypts
- adapted to drought and fire
- regenerate after rain
- a lot of this has been cleared for farming
Australian Fauna
- Australia occupied by all three classes of mammals
- Marsupials are prominent. 90% of these are endemic to Australia
- 144 species out of 238 mammals are marsupials
- They have a pouch where baby finishes development
- E.g. kangaroo
- Monotremes are unique as they are the only mammal that lay eggs
- Two of the three species are inhabited in Australia
- They incubate there eggs
- Placental Mammals are animals whose young develop inside the mother and receive nourishment via placenta. E.g. rodents and bats
Invertebrates
- animals without a backbone
- most important ones are termites
- They recycle vast amounts of plant matter, revitalising marginally fertile soils over a vast area of the continent
Australia’s natural resources
- often stated as resource dependent.
- Mineral, energy, forests, soils and water supplies are a major export
- Australia is one of the world’s major mineral producers
- More than 80% of Australia’s minerals are exported
- Australia has vast reserves of coal and natural gas
- 2/3 of the coal mined is exported
- Coal is the main fuel to generate electricity in Australia.
- Wind generated power is considered by the government as cleaner reducing fossil fuels and global warming.
- In 2001-02 exports of coal were valued at $A13.4 billion and natural gas at $A2.6 billion
- Resource: any part of the physical or human environments used to meet the needs of people
- Renewable resource: natural resource that has been in use in the past and always be available.
- Non-renewable resource: natural resource that is used faster than it can be replaced
Demography: The study of characteristics of human populations
Natural Increase: Difference between birth rate and death rate
Net Migration: Difference between the number of permanent departures from Australia and the number of people arriving to live on a permanent basis
- A significant share of this growth has come from immigration
- Since WW2 more than 6 million people have migrated to Australia
- Due to this Australia has evolved into a multicultural society
DISTRIBUTION
- Australia’s is uneven
- 80% of pop. Live in 3% of Australia from Bris. To Adelaide.
- Proportion of pop. Living in rural is declining – small communities are struggling
- Proportion of pop. Living in NT , WA and QLD increased. NSW, Vic, SA and Tas has declined
- During the 50s and 60s fastest growing were state capitals – due to expansion of industry, arrival immigrations and the conscious decision of governments to expand cities.
Density
- number of people per square kilometre
- 2 people per square km lowest except for Antarctica
- highest are found in south east corner of the continent
- 17.2 million live in urban areas.
- By the 1980s and 1990s the growth o the largest cities had slowed due to the slowing of immigration and the decline in manufacturing.
- The areas that grew rapidly around this time was the surroundings of cities where there was a combination of coastal lifestyle and close to the city
Factors Affecting Distribution
- Australia’s harsh climate, scarce water resources and poor soils limit the area of the continent that is suitable for food production and settlement. Early European settlement was limited to the areas that could sustain agricultural systems with which the settlers were most familiar
- Australian’s ,major urban centres have developed on the sites first settled by the European invaders and settlers. This gave them the advantage of early growth. Australia was formed from 6 separate colonies in 1901. This is significant in explaining the present distribution of the population. In each state and territory the capital city is the largest city and is surrounded by an area of dense rural settlement
- Because of their reliance on trade, the first settlers were located on coast.
- Settlement’s port facilities became central to the colony’s well being.
- For the first 100 years coastal chipping was the main means of communication.
- In these large port cities banks and large financial institutions.
Population
- Reasons for ageing population are:
1. increasing life expectancy
2. declining birth rates
3. changes in immigration program – reduced
FUTURE POPULATION GROWTH
- economists and politicians believe that Australia could support a population of 25 – 30 million
- The argue that technology could overcome the environmental problem created by increase in population
- Scientists and ecologists argue that a population of 8 – 10 million would be more ecologically sustainable
- They believe that a greater population would worsen the problems of resource depletion, water, land degradation, pollution and habitat loss
AUSTRALIA’S INDIGENOUS POPULATION
- In the arrival pf British invaders the indigenous population declined sharply to just 62 000 due to genocide and spreading of diseases.
- 1971 census = 0.9% of population is Aboriginal
- Aboriginals have low life expectancy with only 3% living over 54
- Also have high birth rate with 50% of population under 20
Multicultural Australia
- multicultural is a term used to describe a society made up of different cultures and ethnic groups
- Mainly came after WW2 5 million immigrants
- Policy that all Australians should have a commitment to Australia’s future, All Australians are required to accept basic principles of Australian society, mutual respect
- Benefits of immigration: range of foods, new sports, performing arts, urban landscape, new traditions, architectural styles, strengthened links with other nations
- Immigration increases the rate of economic growth and job creation.
- Demand for goods increased
Australia’s major cities
- urbanised country
- 86% of people live in towns and cities
- 65% live in state capitals
Non-capital cities
- continue to grow at the expense of rural communities
- many have declining populations and rising levels of unemployment and welfare dependency.
Communities
- A community is made up of people who have something in common
- A sense of community often develops when people share the same space or have similar interests or beliefs
- Communities can be any size and people can belong to many different groups
FACTORS affecting the development of a sense of community
- Ethnic background
- Gender and sexuality
- Sporting allegiances
- Heritage
- Popular culture
- Neighbourhood
- Aboriginality
- Spiritual beliefs
- Occupation
- Socio-economic status
- Demographic characteristics
- Association with land/place country
- Cultural Background
- Kinship ties
- Interest groups
- Governance
- Rural or urban identity
The factors contributing to the sense of community for teenagers
- neighbourhood: most teenagers have a neighbourhood focus
- socio-economic status: Neighbourhoods are oftn occupied by people with a similar background
- Popular culture: Young people are attracted to popular culture
- Demographic characteristics: same age
- Gender: gender based initially
- Ethnic background: some dominated by teenagers of same background
Severe Storms
- most common natural hazard
- Occur anywhere
- Responsible for more damage than cyclones, bushfires and Earthquakes
- Kill 5 – 10 people a year (lightening)
- Storms develop when warm moist air rises in an unstable conditions generally by cold front and they all produce lightening
Tropical Cyclones
- intense lows over warm waters
- storm surge=rapid rise in sea level
- Cyclones form in areas where the temperature of ocean is 26°C or above
- Air above can evaporate large amounts of water, sotred heat energy is released as the air rises.
- Cyclone season in Australia is November to April
- 6 cyclones a year
Floods
- 3 types of flooding flash, rapid onset, slow onset
- Occurs when water overflows its banks on to normally dry land.
- Slow onset floods last for week or more
- Rapid onset floods last a few days but create huge damage
- Flash floods occur when intense storms drop large amounts of rain within a brief period of time
- People increase chance of flooding by removing vegetation, on hillsides, this increases runoff and exposes soil to water erosion.
Earthquakes
- caused by the movement of rock strata deep within the Earth’s crust
- send waves through the rock
- greatest damage is near epicentre above focus
- sometimes trigger tsunamis
- Measure an earthquake with a seismograph
- Richter Scale=measures magnitude
- Mercalli Scale=measures effects on people and damage caused
- Occurs generally along plate boundaries
- Intraplate earthquakes – ones that occur along fault lines
- Effects: death, loss of buildings, damaged railways
Drought
- water restrictions
- contributes to bushfires
- caused by the onset of the southern oscillation-El Nino phenomenon
- El nino events include: negative values on SOI, warmer than normal water temperatures across the central and eastern pacific ocean, increased convection in the central Pacific Ocean, weaker than normal (easterly) trade winds and below average rainfall in Eastern and Northern Australia.
- La Nina is the opposite of El Nino
- Rivers, dams dry up, plants die, soil is dry and dusty, crop failure, death of livestock, lack of feed, desertification and land degragation.
Bushfires
- 60.7% of bushfires are due to Arson
- Bushfire=ignition and combustion of fuel and its subsequent burning out of control
- Spot fire: a fire that occurs well ahead of the fire front.
- Running Crown: A fire that burns on the top of trees
- Fire front: part of fire where continuous combustion is occurring
- Suffocating fire
Factors affecting the occurrence of bushfires
- High Wind Speeds
- Topography-uphill
- Drought
- Low Humidity
- Wind Direction – North Westerlies
- High Air Temperatures
- High fuel loads
Location
Bushfires generally occur in the southern east and southern west corners of Australia including the entire Tasmania. These hazards generally occur in these regions in the seasons summer and Autumn.
Impact of Bushfires
- Vegetation has adapted to fire
- After bushfire eucalypts produce sprays of leaves from epicormic bids so that they can photosynthesise until the crown recovers