Chapter 1
1.1: Australia’s Geographical Dimensions
1) From largest to smallest: Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South
America, Antarctica, Australia
2) South America and Africa are crossed by the equator
3) .
4) States of Australia largest to smallest: Western Australia, Queensland,
Northern Territory, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria,
Tasmania, ACT
5) Capital cities of:
a) Queensland- Brisbane
b) Victoria- Melbourne
c) New South Wales- Sydney
6) Alice Springs is the town furthest away from any coastline
7) Australia’s seven external territories:
a) Norfolk Island
b) Christmas Island
c) Cocos Island
d) Australian Antarctic Territory
e) Coral Sea Islands
f) Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands
g) Heard Island and McDonald Islands
8) Coral Seas Islands Territory is the closest to Australia. The Australian
Antarctic territory is the furthest away
1.2: Locating Australia
1) Estimate the distance in a straight line from:
a) The easternmost point of the east of Australia to the closest part of
the USA- 11498km approx..
b) The easternmost part of the east coast of Australia to the closest
part of New Zealand- 2,250km
c) The northernmost part of Australia to the closest part of china6240km approx.
d) The westernmost part of Australia to the closest part of the UK14036km approx.
Geo Skills Toolbox:
Work out, using longitude and latitude, the locations of:
a) Australia- 32.3456°S, 141.4346°E
b) New Zealand- 41.4395°S, 172.1936°E
c) Papua New Guinea- 5.9054°S, 147.4080°E
d) China- 32.9043°N, 110.4677°E
e) India- 21.7679°N, 78.8718°E
f) Russia- 54.8270°N, 55.0423°E
1.3: Origins of the Continent: Aboriginal Perspective
1) Dreaming stories are important to Aboriginal people because they show
how and when all things began. It also gives them an extremely strong
spiritual and survival connection to the land. It also connects them with
their ancestors.
2) There are so many different Dreaming stories because there are different
Aboriginal language groups, which means they have slight variations in
their customs and their beliefs can differ.
3) Stories of the Dreaming can be passed on from one group to another
through traditional paintings and verbal means.
4) Aboriginal artworks can be used as maps because the symbols within the
painting represent objects and can even mark sites.
1.4: Origins of the Continent: Geographical Perspective
1) Continental drift influenced the shape of Australia and fault and fold
movements influenced the distinctive landforms of Australia
2) Tectonic plates are ‘cracked’ Earth’s crust which float (move around) on
the layer of rock below via convection currents
3) Pangaea was the name of the super continent
4) :
a) Antarctica, South America and Australia were still connected 65
million years ago
b) Pangaea evolved into Laurasia (North America, Asia and Europe)
and Gondwana (South America, Africa, Antarctica and Australia),
which itself evolved into Eurasia (Europe and Asia), then to today’s
present continents
5) :
a) Australia is located on the Indo-Australian plate
b) This plate is moving North East
c) Mountain building would be affected in New Zealand because it
lies on two plates. It would be affected because where plates
boundary with another is where most of the ‘action’ occurs as they
slip under the other or collide easily
1.5: Tectonic Processes and Volcanic Activity
1) Australia had volcanic activity because while it was drifting after
detaching from Antarctica, it passed over a gigantic hot spot, causing a
series of eruptions
2) BLAST FROM THE PAST
Did you know that the land that a mass city is built on right now, was
home to an erupting volcano? Well you do now.
3) Australia’s volcanic landscape has changed over time because volcanoes
have slowly eroded to create caldera’s
4) The Tweed caldera is 100km in diameter. The eroded material has either
fallen in or rolled down the side of the caldera.
5) 27 million years ago, I erupted. I am now a eroded volcano, a caldera.
1.6: Impacts of Changing Climates and Sea Levels
1) Scientists think the ancestors of Aboriginal people migrated to Australia
around 50,000 years ago
2) Ice bridges connected the majority of continents, therefore making
migration possible
3) The coastline of Australia during the last Ice Age was noticeably smoother
and also quite bigger in size
4) During the last Ice Age, Australian climates were much colder and wetter
5) The first migrants might have sailed between 350-450km between Timor
and Australia
Broadsheet: Australia Overview
1) The Uluru alluvial fan was formed from arkose (sedimentary rock)
2) Between 300 and 500 million years ago, the whole region sank
3) Between 65 and 70 million years ago, part of the area was still covered by
water
4) Over the time period shown in the diagrams, the whole area has been
eroded
5) Uluru has been formed by a combination of erosion, deposition and
faulting and folding
6) Kata Tjuta and Uluru were formed through a series of faults, folds, erosion
and deposition. The pressure underneath the landforms caused rock to
buckle and erosion slowly wore away at the hills and ground. Deposition
of sediment helped form valleys in Kata Tjuta
7) The ancestors of the indigenous were believed to have rose from the land
8) A plane flying from 42.50°S 147.15°E to 35.17°S 149.08°E would cross the
Bass Strait
9) The latitude and longitude of Sydney is 33.55°S 151.13°E
10)The latitude and longitude of Broken Hill is 31.58°S 141.278°E
11)The latitude and longitude of Townsville is 19.16°S 146.49°E
12)The city closest to the Tropic of Capricorn is Rockhampton
13)The city closest to longitude 140°E is Mount Isa
14)The city closest to Sydney is Melbourne
15)The population of Adelaide is over 1,000,000
Chapter 2: Physical Characteristics of Australia
2.1: Major Landforms and Drainage Basins
1) Weathering is the breakdown of rock by water and temperature changes.
Mass movement is the movement of rock or soil down a slope due to
gravity. Erosion is the wearing away of soil and rock by natural elements.
Deposition is the laying down of material carried via water bodies
2) Erosion has been the most significant process in the development of
Australia’s landforms
3) Australia’s major landform regions:
a) The 4 major landform regions are the Western Plateau, Central
Lowlands, Eastern Highlands and Coastal Plains
b) The Western Plateau is the largest. Eastern Highlands is the
smallest
c) Sydney: Eastern Highlands. Alice Springs: Western Plateau.
Canberra: Eastern Highlands. Kalgoorlie: Western Plateau. Cairns:
Coastal Plains. Lake Eyre:
4) Australia’s largest drainage basin are both the Timor Sea and Gulf of
Carpentaria which are 23.3% each
5) The Murray Darling Basin is approximately one million square km
6) Having a large variety of environments affects agriculture because they
need consistency and cannot keep living in changing environments
7) The basin is such an important irrigation area because it produces 1/3 of
Australia’s food, supports ¼ of the nations cattle, ½ the sheep and 40% of
Adelaide’s drinking water
2.2: Topographic Maps: GeoSkills Toolbox
1) Area Reference for:
a) AR8348
b) D- AR8442
c) G- AR9142
d) B: AR8446
e) E: AR9144
f) H: AR8840
g) C: AR8746
h) F: AR9245
2) Grid references for the same points:
a) A: GR835486
b) D: GR847426
c) G: GR910425
d) B: GR847466
e) E: GR911445
f) H: GR883401
g) C: GR878466
h) F: GR929456
3) which direction would you have to travel to reach point D from:
a) B: South
b) C: South-West
c) E: West-South-West
4) What is at each of these points:
a) Mt Florence
b) 300 metres in height
c) Railway tracks
d) Sealed road
e) Swamp
f) Lake
g) 170 metres in height
5) What is the height of land at points:
a) B: 300m
b) C: 180m
c) F: 150m
d) G: 170m approx.
6) Mount Florence is 450m high and the East side is the steepest
7) .
8) .
9) .
2.4: Understanding Landforms: Katherine Gorge: GeoSkills Toolbox
1)
2) Due to shadows, cliff lines and gorges really stand out
3) I think the aerial was taken around midday due to the lighting
4) Orang lines symbolise the gorge. The contours show a change in height
and steepness, whereas gorges are generally a straight down drop
5) Waterfall references on map: GR285160, GR271162, GR183182,
GR241159, GR176098, GR300165
6) Dense vegetation dominates the region
7) Human physical features include caravan parks and a river gauging
station. Natural features include rainforest and water
2.5: Australia’s Pattern of Climate and Vegetation
1) High pressure systems drift from east to west across the continent. They
contribute to the dryness because it brings dry, stable and sinking air
2) In January, Brisbane is very wet, whereas Perth is very dry. July in
Adelaide is reasonably wet whereas Darwin is extremely dry. Summer
low pressure systems bring rain to Northern Australia and the passage of
a cold front over South Australia brings cool moist air, which is ideal for
rainfall
3) From warmest to coolest temperatures in January: Mt Isa, Perth, Mt
Gambier then Hobart.
From coldest to warmest temperatures in July: Hobart, Alice Springs,
Melbourne, Mackay then Darwin
Alice Springs is in a hot dessert climatic zone whereas Mackay is in
tropical wet, which has more rainfall than Alice Springs
4) From Adelaide to Darwin: Dry eucalyptus forest, woodland, mallee scrub
5) Temperatures affect what sort of vegetation can grow because different
vegetation have different climatic requirements to be able to grow in
2.6: GeoSkills Toolbox
1) Synoptic maps are also referred to as weather maps
2) High pressure systems have sinking air, travels in an anticlockwise
direction, moves from a high to low pressure system and are also called
anticyclones
Low pressure systems are an area of rising air and commonly referred to
as cyclones
3) When isobars are close together, it means there are stronger winds in that
area. The further apart the bars, the calmer the winds
4) The lines that separate different air masses are called fronts
5) Observe the weather map:
a) Adelaide is fairly calm
b) A is a high pressure system, as is B. C is a low pressure system
c) D is a warm front and E is a cold front
d) The temperatures at Brisbane look average for the area, Sydney is
a bit warmer than usual, Adelaide looks average but Perth looks a
bit cooler then average
e) Melbourne and Perth both look like it could be raining as
Melbourne has a cold front nearby and Perth has very close
isobars
f) Melbourne is about to experience a cool change
2.7: Australia’s Patterns of Natural Resources
1) Australia is considered rich in natural resources because we have a small
population in a very large country
2) Australia is mainly rick in energy and mineral resources due to the
amount of mines located around the continent
3) Australia’s resources are poor in soil and forests
4) :
5) One natural resource:
a) Mineral mines are found widely in WA, but are also found in the
NT and QLD
2.8: Australia’s Unique Flora and Fauna
1) Endemic: native to a particular area; found nowhere else
Marsupial: a mammal that keeps and feeds its young in a pouch
Monotreme: mammal that lays eggs; the only species
2) The long geographic isolation of Australia from other continents is the
reason for Australia’s unique flora and fauna
3) The main characteristics of flora in Australia are: the drought-resistant
qualities, with much of the flora being endemic to Australia
4) The distribution of vegetation in Australia is strongly influenced by the
climate, with only 5% of Australia being forested. The types of vegetation
found in various areas greatly depend on the areas climate.
5) Bilbies survive in the dessert by escaping into burrows, which protect
them from heat and predators. Death adders survive by keeping warm.
They do this by soaking up the heat from the roads at night and sheltering
during the day
6) Papua New Guinea was originally attached to Australia for millions of
years but split off due to continental drift
2.9: Flora and Fauna of the Daintree Forest
1) The wet tropics was placed on the World Heritage List because it showed
major changes in the Earth’s evolution, outstanding aesthetic value, and
houses endangered species
2) The climate of the Daintree has one of the wettest and warmest climates
3) The adverse results of clearing the Daintree rainforest have: changed the
ecosystem, made eucalyptus trees enter the rainforest, resulted in less
leaf litter (less nutrients), fertilisers running off into the sea and an
invasion of exotic plants and feral animals and more fires
4) Estuarine crocodiles thrive in the lowland because there is a very large
food source
5) Mangroves are important in lowlands because: they are spawning
grounds for sea animals, support a variety of specialist life forms, provide
food, protect the coastline from wind and erosion, trap sediments and
provide habitats
6) In a way, ‘Old Gummy’ keeps the estuarine crocodile population under
control
Chapter 2 Overview: Broadsheet: Shark Bay
1) Distance from Denham to Monkey Mia: 26km
2) Distance from Denham to Hamelin: 111km
3) Wooramel Seagrass Bank is the worlds largest seagrass meadow,
stretching 129km from Gladstone Bay almost to: Bush Bay
4) From Carnarvon to Dorre Island: South-west
5) At the south-eastern tip of Shark bay, there are burrowing bettongs
6) At the eastern shore of the Peron Peninsula, there are dugongs
7) Sand hills is the most important habitat on Bernier and Dorre islands
8) Bernier and Dorre islands house endangered species because it provides
scrubs and sand hills for these animals. They are also safer from
predators
9) Three reasons why Shark Bay was given a world heritage status are: they
are home to many endangered species, home to the largest population of
Dugong in the world and contain some of the oldest life forms on Earth
Chapter 3: Natural Hazards in Australia
3.1: Natural Hazards and Natural Disasters
1) A hazard is an event or object that could potentially harm a community
A disaster occurs as the result of a hazardous event that dramatically
affects a community
2) Bushfires are natural hazards because they need fuel to keep going. They
are also human hazards because they can reach houses and communities
3) Observe the map of natural occurrences in Australia
a) Potential flash flooding is the most common occurrence
b) Australia’s cyclone hazard zone is located on the cost lines off
North, West and East Australia
c) Disaster fires are prone in Victoria and the Perth area, also South
NSW
d) Gippsland 1998 suffered a bushfire disaster
e) Newcastle is subject to disaster fires, tornadoes and
thunderstorms
f) If an earthquake hit the middle of Australia, it would send shock
waves throughout the country and could cause after shocks
4) The risk of experiencing a natural disaster depends on the geographical
locations because different areas have different climates, different parts
of the country rest on various plates, and climates surrounding Australia
would also have an impact
5) Katherine flood disaster: occurred in the NT, south of Darwin. 3 died,
houses and businesses were destroyed, food ran out and water was
contaminated
3.2: Natural Hazards- Droughts
1) Drought is a prolonged period of below average rainfall
2) Drought is continuous dry weather where there is not enough water to
meet the needs. Low rainfall just means it is below average
3) All of Australia couldn’t be affected by drought at the same time because
different parts of Australia are affected by different weather systems
4) Intervals between droughts vary from 4-38 years
5) Short and intense droughts last approximately 1 year
Long-lived droughts last approximately 4 years
6) 1963-68 drought: the longest drought ever in arid Central Australia.
There was a 40% decrease of wheat harvest, loss of 20 million sheep and
a decrease in farm income of around 500 million dollars
1991-95: one of the most severe droughts in the 20th century, economic
losses of more than $5 billion and the implement of water restrictions
7) Sydney stores water because it’s frequently affected by drought
8) Topsoil is blown away during droughts. This results in less productive
areas
Chapter 4: Communities of Australia
4.1: Australia’s Unique Character
1) Australia’s population density is 2.5 million
2) Sydney is the most densely populated area, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne,
Geelong, Hobart and Brisbane have a population density higher then 100
3) The surrounding suburbs of capital cities are growing at a rapid pace
GeoSkills Toolbox
1) (a) 20.02S 140.02E: Cloncurry
(b) 29.28S 149.51E: Moree
(c) 34.56S 138.36E: Adelaide
(d) 17.58S 122.14E: Broome
2) (a) Tanami: 20°S, 129.5°E
(b) Moura: 24°S, 150E
(c) Broken Hill: 32°S, 141.5°E
(d) Newman: 24°S, 119.5°E
4.2: Australia’s Indigenous Population
1) There were approximately 500,000- 1 million people living in Australia
before 1788
2) Aboriginal clans moved around the land because there would be different
essential resources in each location based on the seasons of the year
3) Aborigines used fire to create more open vegetation, encouraging the
growth of new flora and also encouraged wildlife to the new growth. Fires
also made animals accessible for the aborigines
4) Western Australia was home to approximately 70 language groups.
Groups such as Wiradjuri, Kokatha, Nyanganyatjura, Mardu and Warlpin
occupied the largest area of Australia. There were larger language groups
in Central Australia because it was more of the desert, where people were
fairly scarce
4.3: Changing Settlement Patterns
1) Settlement after 1788 impacted the natural environment because they
began to clear the forests rapidly and settlers also began to create
industries and built-up areas.
2) People were attracted to Australia because of the discovery of gold,
business opportunities and the resources available