Geography/Physical
Features
Southeast Asia, Oceania, Antarctica
Landforms and Resources
 Includes two Peninsulas  Indochinese
and Malay Peninsula.
 Includes more than 20,000 islands most
of which are in archipelagos.
 The mainland has several mountain
ranges
 Indochinese
Peninsula
 Malay Peninsula
 Mountains on the islands are of volcanic
origin.
 Creates fertile soil for farming.
 Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire
 Pacific
Ocean’s ring of volcanoes and
earthquakes.
 Mainland Mekong River Valley
important.
Pacific Ring of Fire
Mekong River
 Oceania is the region of Pacific Islands.
 Two types of islands include:
islands  created by volcanoes
 Low islands  made from coral reef.
 High
 New Zealand is mountainous with rivers,
fertile farmland, and forest.
 Australia is flat and rich in minerals.
 Great Barrier Reef is one of the largest coral
reefs in the world off of Australia.
 Antarctica is centered around the South Pole
and has a varied landscape including possible
resources.
New Zealand
Australia
The Great
Barrier Reef
Antarctica
Climate and Vegetation
 Tropical wet climate in the coastal parts
of SE Asia.
 Temperatures are high.
 Elevation affects temperature.
 SE Asia has the greatest diversities of
vegetation of any region.
 1/3 of Australia is desert that the locals
call The Outback.
 Antarctica is considered a polar desert
due to the lack of moisture it receives.
Human-Environment Interaction
 Pacific Islanders developed technology
to travel the Pacific.
 Handmade charts, the voyaging canoe
and the outrigger canoe were used.
 European colonizers brought rabbits to
Australia that grazed crops.
Voyaging
Canoe
Outrigger canoe
 Bikini Atoll was the site of U.S. atomic
weapons tests.
 1951-1958 U.S. held over 60 explosions that
vaporized several islands and contaminated
the entire area with radiation.
 Islanders became sick or died.
 Bikini islanders remained exiled from
their homeland.
 No one knows when Bikini Atoll will be
suitable for human life.