Physical Geography of Southeast Asia, Oceania and Antarctica

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Physical Geography of Southeast Asia, Oceania and
Antarctica
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Mainland and Islands

• Southeast Asia consists of two distinct
  sub-regions
• Asian Mainland
• Islands

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Peninsulas and Islands

• Two Peninsulas
• Indochinese Peninsula
• Malay Peninsula

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Archipelagos

• Philippines
• 7,000 islands
• Indonesia
• Over 13,000 Islands

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Rivers and Coastlines

• Rivers
• Mekong River
• Begins in China and crosses several Southeast
  Asian nations
• Forms a boundary between Myanmar and Laos and
  between Laos and Thailand

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Landforms of Oceania

• Estimate more than 20,000 island not including
  Philippines and Indonesia.
• New Zealand
• Australia
• Micronesia
• Melanseia

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Oceanias Many Islands

• High Islands
• created by Volcanoes
• Low Islands (Atolls)
• created by coral reefs

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New Zealand

• Two Islands
• North Island
• Hilly mountains
• Volcanic plateau
• Fertile farmland
• Forests
• rivers
• South Island
• Southern Alps
• 360 glaciers
• Forests
• rivers

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Australia

• Smallest continent on earth
• Great Dividing Range
• Few Rivers
• Outback
• Great Barrier Reef
• 1,250 mile chain of more than 2,500 reefs and
  islands
• 400 species of coral
• Tasmania

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Antarctica

• Mountains
• Transantarctic Mountains
• East Antarctic Plateau
• Technically a desert

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Neutral Antarctica

• Antarctica is the largest supply of fresh water
  in the world.
• Many geologists believe there is a wealth of
  mineral resources below the ice.
• In 1991, 26 nations agreed not to mine Antarctica
  for 50 years.

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Climate and Vegetation

• Tropical Climate Regions
• Myanmar
• Thailand
• Vietnam
• Oceania
• Characterized by high temperatures, over 100
  -200 of rain per year

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Wet and Dry Seasons

• Myanmar
• Thailand
• Laos
• Cambodia
• Vietnam
• Characterized by wet and
• dry monsoon seasons. Constant hot
  temperatures, rainfall varies with season.
  Landforms affect precipitation such as mountains.

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Moderate Climate Regions

• Australia
• New Zealand
• Characterized by bands of varied moderate
  climate zones such as humid subtropical and
  Marine West Coast

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Hot and Cold Deserts

• Australia (hot)
• 1/3 of Australia is desert
• Antarctica (cold)
• Characterized by less than 10 of rainfall a year

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Human-Environment Interaction

• Navigating the Pacific
• Pacific Islanders relied on the stars as a guide
  but they made charts out of sticks and shells
• Voyaging canoes were developed with double hulls
  to allow the boats to carry a heavy load and
  remain stable in the open water.
• For use in lagoons, the Pacific Islanders
  developed outrigger canoes to help balance the
  canoe.

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Invasion of Rabbits

• In 1859, Thomas Austin released 24 rabbits in
  Australia because he wanted to be able to hunt
  rabbits as it was an English Tradition.
• As a result, the rabbit population grew
  exponentially . One pair of rabbit alone
  produced 184 descendants in one year. There were
  no natural predators in Australia to control the
  population. By 1900 there were over 1 billion
  rabbits in Australia

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Control Measures

• The rabbits began to destroy crops and wiped out
  native plants. Other native animals became
  endangered as their food sources were depleted
• In order to control the rabbits, the brought in
  foxes but the introduced foxes threatened the
  natural wildlife as well as domestic animals.

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Rabbit Rebound

• The government acted by infecting the rabbits
  with a contagious disease that proved fatal to
  90 of the rabbit population but over time, the
  surviving rabbits developed an immunity to the
  disease and their population quickly rebounded.

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Nuclear Testing

• In the 1940s the United States conducted nuclear
  testing in the Marshall Islands.
• The Bikini Atoll was the designated test site.
• The U.S. removed 167 inhabitants and conducted
  over 60 nuclear tests.

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Long Term Effects

• The testing vaporized several small islands and
  contaminated the entire area with high levels of
  radiation.
• In the 1960s, the U.S. government declared the
  Bikini Atoll safe for human habitation however,
  after the people moved back, many became ill or
  died.
• In 1978, doctors discovered dangerous levels of
  radiation ins the islanders bodies and they were
  again removed from the islands

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The End