1.5 Australia's Major Landforms

1. What are the three main land regions in Australia?
The Western Plateau, the Central Lowlands and the Eastern Highlands.

2. Where are the Australian Alps?
The Australian Alps stretch from the Brindabella Range north to Canberra to the Baw Baw Range east of Melbourne.

3. Why are the mountains in the Australian Alps rounded in shape?
Because they are very old therefore erosion and weathering have given it's rounded shape.

4. Where is Uluru? 
It is located 335 kilometers south-est of Alice Springs in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

5. Write a detailed description of Uluru.
Uluru is the second largest monolith in the world, measuring 9.4 kilometers around the base and extending for several kilometers underground.

6. Explain why Uluru appears to change colour.
In the middle of the day the Sun's rays pass through less thickness of atmosphere so less of the blue light is filtered. At sunrise and sunset, the Sun's rays pass through a greater thickness of atmosphere; therefore, more of the blue light is filtered.

7. What is a drainage basin
An area of land that is drained by a river and its tributaries.

8. Name the two largest drainage basins in Australia.
The Murray-Darling Basin and the Lake Eyre Basin

9. Which are the three longest rivers in Australia
The Murray, the Darling and the Murrumbidgee

10. Where does all the water in the Lake Eyre Basin go?
They flow slowly and a large amount of water is lost through evaporation.

11. What is unusual about the Finke River?
The unusual feature about the Finke River is that it only flows on a few days each year.

12. Where is the Franklin River and why has it become synonymous with conservation?
The Franklin River flows for 125 kilometres from the Cheyne Range to the Gordon river. It has become synonymous with conservation in Australia.

13. What court ruling eventually saved the Franklin? 
Battle to save the Franklin

14. Hold a class forum into the control of water in the Murray-Darling Basin. Conduct research into past and current control as well as proposals for the future. Be prepared to give your opinion about who should be responsible for the water. 
The Murray-Darling Basin is very important as it produces over one-third of Australia's food supply. Water in storage is used for urban communities, stock and domestic, irrigation and industries.


15. Refer to 1.20
a)   For each of the three land regions write a paragraph describing its features.
The Western Plateau is comprised of the remains of the ancient rock rock shield of Gondwanaland. It uses two-thirds of the country including the parts Western Australia, South Australia and Northern Territory. The central lowlands is about 25 percent of Australia. It is characterized by extremely flat, low-lying plains of sedimentary rock. It stretches from Australia's largest river basin, the Murray-Darling, through Artesian Basin, extending north to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Eastern Highlands are a series of hills, valleys and mountains. The range extends north to the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland and south to Tasmania.


b)  In which land region is:
i.  Lake Carnegie - Western Plateau
ii. Gibson Desert - Western Plateau
iii. Simpson Desert - Central Lowlands
iv. Mount Kosciuszko - Eastern Highland
v. The Musgrave Rangers - Western Plateau

c) On the transect from Shark Bay to Maroochydore where is:
i. the highest place - Mt Woodroffe
ii. the lowest inland place - Simpson Desert

d) What is the height range of the:
i. Great Sandy Desert - 0-200m
ii. Great Victoria desert - 200-500m
iii. Tanami Desert - 500-1000m