In these articles, I'll write about the nature of Australia. It will consist of three parts. I will leave the links at the end of the article. Have a nice reading, everybody!
The geographical location of Australia
The southern hemisphere of the Earth is home to the isolated island of Oceania, where Australia is located. It is a picturesque, sparsely populated country with primitive flora and fauna. The name of the mainland comes from the Latin word australis - "southern". In primitive times, the island was part of a large mega-material, attached to the territory in the region of modern Africa, but after the global ecological disaster, it was detached from the general continent under the influence of the tectonic movement of plates.
Since then, the mainland has occupied its permanent location in Oceania, between the three oceans of the world: the Pacific, Southern, and Indian. The coastline of the continent is slightly indented. On the east side, the Great Dividing Range stretches from south to north, along the coast, on land, and in the ocean, from Cape York to Cape Byron, the Great Barrier Reef stretches. The Great Australian Gulf crashed into the island off the south coast of Australia from west to east. The West Australian Basin lies in the ocean on the west side of the island, and from the northwest coast to the northeast coast of Australia, three seas are washed by the island: the Timor, Arafura and Coral Seas.
The mainland is located far from the main trade routes. You can get to the land of the island by water or by air. By land, Australia has no connection to the continent. The extreme points of the mainland are Tasmania Island (which is part of the mainland) in the south, Cape York in the north, Cape Steep Point in the west and Cape Byron in the east.
Australia's climate
Despite the small size of mainland Australia, its climatic conditions are dictated by the location of the mainland relative to the southern tropic, which cuts the island into two halves. Also, its relief structure is the flattest continent, i.e. almost completely blown by sea winds and exposed to the direct entry of warm and cold winds of ocean currents into the mainland.
Australia's mainland climate belts have a tropical climate in the middle of the island in close proximity to the southern tropics, and a subequatorial climate on the North Coast of the island of Australia. The southern part of the mainland has a subtropical climate, and on Tasmania, which is located in the waters of the Southern Ocean, the climate is temperate in the southern part of the island and subtropical in the northern part of the island.
Temperature conditions on most of the mainland: from +15 to +20 in winter, and from +25 to +35 in summer. On the island of Tasmania, the temperature is lower by 5-8 degrees in the southern part of the island, where moderate climate prevails. The mainland of Australia in the center of the island is very dry, there is less rainfall than in Africa. In the areas of land closer to the coastline of the island the rains fall by half.
Nature features of Australia
Australia's mainland nature is represented by rainforests, savannahs, and deserts according to the climate zones. On the territory of these natural zones live a large number of wildlife, plants grow.
The main feature of Australian nature is that the mainland has not been connected to other continents for more than 35,000 years. Because of this, flora and fauna could evolve and develop according to its scheme, without interference. Also not unimportant feature is the fact that the man settled on the island of Australia in the early 18th century.
In the natural world of the continent, you can find trees and shrubs, which are nowhere else on the planet. The fauna of Australia has the largest number of marsupials, which live only on the territory of this continent. Scientists have discovered relict trees in the rainforests of Australia, which have not survived in the Greater Continent.
Thanks to these factors, scientists are given the opportunity to better understand the flora and fauna in its original beauty, and to reconsider the evolution of certain species of animals and plants. And also to approach the solution of the origin of life on planet Earth.
To be continued in the next part...