Australia

Australia is the lowest and flattest of the continents and has no high mountains despite its vast extent. Approximately three-quarters of its area is covered by a plateau that rarely rises above 500m. The Great Western Plateau is mostly desert or semi-arid scrub country. the few uplands occurring there are mere pimples on the extensive peneplain. The ancient shield topography is missing only in the east where a chain of low ranges runs parallel to the coastline. The western uplands include the Hamersley Range in the north and the Stirling Range in the extreme south. The Hamersley and its eastern extension, the Opthalmia Range, are aligned east-west with Mount Bruce (1,235m) being the high point. The rocks are mainly Palaeozoic crystallines. The climate is subtropical with summer rain. The Stirling Range near the south coast is a small lava outcrop capped by Bluff Knoll (1,167m). This area has a temperate climate favoured with winter rainfall.

© Author

18.Kangaroo, Australia _ Kangaroos in eucalyptus forest near Flinders Range. This marsupial of the family Macropodidae is native to Australia and nearby islands.

The central uplands are ringed by deserts in all four directions. These are all low hills with a predominantly north-east strike. The Macdonnell Ranges in the north and Musgrave Ranges in the south enclose the dry lake of Amadeus. Much of these upland areas are designated as Abo riginal Reserves and there are seven in all. The only range in South Australia, Flinders' Range, trends north-south along a structural fault fronting Spencer Gulf near Adelaide (Plate 18). The highest point is St. Mary Peak (1,165m). The nearby uplands, known as Barrier Range to the east and Gawler Range to the west, are merely low knolls approaching 500m. These are of much-eroded Palaeozoic rock formations with ridges of hard quartzite.

The Great Dividing Range extends over 3,200 km from Cape York Peninsula in the north to Bass Strait in the south. It is an eroded plateau ranging from 900 to 1,500m. The highest point, Mt. Kosciusko (2,230m), in the extreme south, was named in 1840 after Thaddeus Kosciusko, a Polish revolutionary. The topography is subdued with rolling hills. The island of Tasmania has some small mountains. The main range lies west of the Great Lake and has a number of peaks. The highest peak, Legges Tor (1,573m), is an outlier far to the east. Despite their low elevation, these mountains are considered to be of great interest owing to their luxuriant native flora. Thus, the small island has four national parks centred around the highlands.