About Australia and Oceania Physical Map
This physical map of Australia and Oceania helps to locate all the major physical features and bodies of water. Australia is the large continent at the center of the map, which also includes the widely scattered islands of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. The map uses colors to represent elevation in Australia and Oceania, showing mountains, plateaus, plains, desert regions, and coastlines.
The map of Australia shows the Great Dividing Range, a major mountain range which follows the eastern coast of Australia. The lowlands of the interior are dry desert and semi desert which are called the Outback. Several arid deserts cover much of the area of the interior including parts of the Great Victoria Desert, Great Sandy Desert and Simpson Desert. The map shows many of the main rivers including the Murray River and the largest internal drainage basin, the Murray-Darling Basin. Various coastal features including the world’s largest coral reef system, the Great Barrier Reef, which lies off the northern coast of Australia are also depicted.
The map highlights the Southern Alps which run the length of the South Island of New Zealand and contain all of New Zealand’s highest peaks. The map also shows the three main groupings of islands in the continent of Oceania (Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia) which are scattered across the Pacific Ocean. Many of the Oceania islands are volcanic in origin, while others are coral atolls.
The Australia continent map includes major ocean names such as the Pacific Ocean, Coral Sea, Tasman Sea and Arafura Sea. The map also includes the Equator and Tropic of Capricorn geographical reference lines.
Physical Geography of Australia Continent
Australia and Oceania, or Asia Pacific is one of the world’s most geographically unique regions. The area covers the world’s smallest continent of Australia and thousands of Pacific Islands. Spanning an area of more than 8.5 million square kilometers (3.3 million sq mi), a large part of the region is actually the ocean, sea and various Straits and channels. Australia itself is often called the “island continent” or “island nation” and covers an area of 7,686,850 square kilometers (2,971,789 sq mi). Oceania is further divided into three subregions: Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Geographically as well as culturally, the subregions are different in terms of landscapes, climates and man-made and natural features.
Major Landforms and Relief Features
Australia is known as the flattest inhabited continent on Earth with an average height of about 330 metres (1,083 ft) above sea level. Geographically the country can be divided into three main sections: the Western Plateau, the Central Lowlands and the Eastern Highlands. Two-thirds of the land is taken up by the Western Plateau, home to a number of desert landscapes including the Great Victoria Desert which is primarily sandy desert, the Great Sandy Desert which is an arid region of sandstone, and the Gibson Desert which is a rocky desert. The drier lands of the Central Lowlands contain most of the continent’s rivers, which flow through the large inland river basins of the Murray-Darling Basin and the Lake Eyre Basin. The lowest point on the continent is found at the bed of Lake Eyre, 15 metres (49 ft) below sea level.
The Eastern Highlands of Australia, known as the Great Dividing Range, form the country’s main mountain range, running for 3,500 km along the eastern side of Australia. While the highest peaks in the Great Dividing Range are not particularly high by global standards, the highest mountain in Australia stands at 2,228m and is called Mount Kosciuszko. In contrast, New Zealand’s main mountain range, the Southern Alps, run along the South Island and hold the highest peak outside of Papua New Guinea, the 3,724m high Mount Cook (Aoraki).
Islands and Geological Formation
Oceania's islands can be seen geologically in several lights, including as continental islands, volcanic islands, and coral atolls. Some of the continental islands are portions of prehistoric continents, such as New Guinea and portions of New Zealand, which were shaped by the geologic events of their early history and continue to be changed by tectonic forces. Other fragments of continents that have taken island form remain as chains of volcanic and non-volcanic islands, scattered across the surface of the Pacific, from Melanesia through Polynesia. A number of the islands of Micronesia are coral atolls, circular or oval in shape, low and thin, enclosing a ring of coral reef that surrounds a large lagoon.
Papua New Guinea covers the eastern half of New Guinea and is marked by tall mountain ranges and dense rainforest above 4,000 m. Oceania, or the Pacific Realm, or the Pacific World, is an area of over 200 big and small islands in the Pacific Ocean. It reaches from Easter Island in the far east of the Pacific to west of Hawaii, and from New Guinea in the west through Australia to the Solomon Islands, including hundreds of little atolls, islets and reef-circles in between. The Pacific Ring of Fire, a girdle of tectonic unrest that accounts for nearly half of Oceania, is one of the most seismically active areas of the world.
Climate Zones and Natural Vegetation
The climates of the countries of Australia and Oceania range from tropical to hot and dry to cool and wet. In the center of Australia, there is an arid to semi-arid climate which covers approximately 18% of the country in desert. The tropics dominate much of Northern Australia with a wet season, known as Cyclone season, and a dry season. In the Southern coastal regions such as the southeast and southwest, the climates are temperate allowing large areas to be suited to agriculture, and these areas house the majority of the population.
In contrast to the temperate climates of New Zealand, the Pacific Islands have a tropical climate with warm temperatures and high humidity year round. Some areas are tropical rainforest, such as Papua New Guinea, while drier regions support grasslands and savannas. The landscapes of New Zealand are as varied as the types of vegetation found there. From the rugged forests and cliffs of the Coromandel Peninsula to the grassy mountain meadows of the Southern Alps, the range of New Zealand landscapes is impressive.
Rivers, Lakes, and Coastal Features
Despite having few rivers due to its arid climate, Australia does have a flowing network of watercourses. None, however, are as long or as dominant as the Murray-Darling Basin rivers that run through the southeastern part of the country. The rivers of the interior flow seasonally, and are often dry for many months until sufficient seasonal rains occur. Many of the lakes are either dry or saline, and none are as famous as Lake Eyre in South Australia.
Volcanic origin tends to create fast flowing ‘short’ rivers, canyons and waterfalls on islands around the world, but it is the coastlines of Oceania that represent the region’s most prominent geographical features. The Australian coast line alone stretches an impressive 25,000 kilometres, while the world’s largest coral reef system the Great Barrier Reef runs along the northern coast of Australia for 2,300 kilometres.
Oceanic Setting and Environmental Significance
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of Earth’s oceans, covering three-quarters of its surface and encompassing the largest island and the deepest marine trench on the planet. It is the backdrop to Oceania’s geography and profoundly affects the climate and ecosystems of the region. For many of Oceania’s island nations, inter-island and continental transport is often by sea, and some ocean systems have the capacity to ‘island hop’ species across the region, as well as affecting local weather patterns. The East Australian Current is a case in point.
Australia and Oceania has a very special biodiversity. A lot of the species have evolved in isolation and are found no where else on the planet. Australia is home to a variety of unique wildlife including kangaroos, koalos and all of the other marsupials. The Pacific islands have an incredible amount of marine life, corals reefs and hardy endemic plant species. But the region is also particularly vulnerable to environmental change and global climate change, sea-level rise and weather extremes.