1
26
Geography
8. THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT OF OCEANIA
Oceania is made up of the large island continent of
Australia
, the archipelago of
New
Zealand
, the eastern half of the island of
NewGuinea
and diverse archipelagos:
Polynesia
(which means ‘many islands’),
Melanesia
(‘black islands’)
Micronesia
(‘small islands’) and
the islands of
Hawaii
.
Australia has a mountain range parallel to the eastern coast (the
Great Dividing Range
).
The rest of the land is flat and sandy, where the largest rock in the world is found: Uluru
or Ayers Rock. South Island in New Zealand has fiords and mountains.
Among the islands in the Pacific, there are atolls
8
and coral reefs. The
Great Barrier Reef
runs along the east coast of Australia. Many of the islands have volcanoes, especially Hawaii.
The main river is the
Murray-Darling
, in Australia. Lake
Eyre
is the largest on the
continent, although it is not very deep.
Great Victoria
Desert
Great Sandy
Desert
G
R
E
A
T
D
I
V
I
D
I
N
G
R
A
N
G
E
S
o
c
i
e
t
y
I
s
l
a
n
d
s
Phoenix
Islands
Fiji
Islands
Mariana Islands
Samoa
Islands
Hawaiian Islands
Gilbert
Islands
Marshall Islands
Caroline
Islands
Tuamotu
Islands
Tonga
Islands
New
Hebrides
New
Caledonia
Ellice
Islands
New
Guinea
Tasmania
New Zealand
Australia
Solomon Islands
Great
Australian
Bight
Bay of
Plenty
Tropic of Capricorn
Equator
S
o
u
t
h
e
r
n
A
l
p
s
M
E
L
A
N
E
S
I
A
P
O
L
Y
N
E
S
I
A
M
I
C
R
O
N
E
S
I
A
P A C I F I C O C E A N
I N D I A N
O C E A N
Tasman
Sea
Coral
Sea
Darling
Murray
Wilheim
4 693
Kosciusko
2 230
South Island
Lake
Eyre
North
Island
Altitude (metres)
4000
2000-4000
1000-2000
500-1000
200-500
0-200
0
2 000 km
0
1:150 037 000
N
40º S
20º S
20º N
120º E
140º E
160º E
180º W 160º W
140º W
Australia has a great diversity of climates due to its position and size. In the interior
there are
desert
or
semi-desert
climates, in the south there are
Mediterranean
and
oceanic
climates, and in the east there are
tropical wet
and
Chinese
climates. In most
of the islands in Oceania, there is a tropical wet climate. On the island of New Guinea an
equatorial
climate predominates.
The isolation of Australia has led to great biodiversity and originality of fauna and flora.
The
eucalyptus
is the most well-known tree. Today it is found on all continents due to its
capacity to adapt to dry, wet, hot or warm areas. Among the main animal species are the
kangaroo, koala, duck-billed platypus, crocodile, Tasmanian devil, dingo and buffalo. Some
animals, introduced by the Europeans (dromedary, horse, rabbit), proliferated considerably
and in certain areas area are a threat to the native species.
Climate
Temperature
Precipitation
Vegetation
Fauna
Equatorial
AMT >20 ºC
Small thermal range
>1500 mm
All year
Forests, mangroves
Lizard, turtle, spiny anteater,
parrot
Tropical wet
AMT 20-25 ºC
Small thermal range
800-1500 mm
Summer rains
Forest (eucalyptus, acacia)
Crocodile, buffalo, kangaroo,
duck-billed platypus, birds
Chinese
AMT 15-25 ºC
Medium thermal range
800-1500 mm
Rains in summer
Clear forest and bushes
Crocodile, kangaroo, flying
fox
Oceanic
AMT 5-15 ºC
Small thermal range
800-2000 mm
All year
Forest (birch, oak) and meadows Tasmanian devil, dingo, koala
Mediterranean
AMT 10-20 ºC
Medium thermal range
300-700 mm
Summer drought
Forest (pine, holm oak) and
scrubland
Cassowary, rabbit, dingo
Desert
Large thermal range
<100 mm
Thorny bushes and scrubland Dromedary, snakes, birds
Equatorial
Tropical wet
Desert and
semidesert
Mediterranean
Chinese
Oceanic
Mountain
Equator
Tropic of Capricorn
4 000 km
0
1:222 494 000
N
Ayers Rock (Australia)
8
atoll:
chain of islands connected by a
coral reef, usually surrounding a lagoon
