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Question of the Day 5/19
• What are there more of in Australia,
humans or sheep?
Oceania – Includes Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Antarctica
Oceania is one of the least populated regions on Earth
Australia
Australia at night vs. North America
McArthur's Universal Corrective Map of the World Made by an Australian who was tormented for coming from the
"bottom of the world". It was the first modern south-up map, originally published in 1979.
Great Barrier Reef
Video 3 mins
Mariana Trench
Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) An ancient outcropping of continental rock in the middle of Australia
The Aborigines – native people of Australia
Australia was originally colonized as a British Prison colony
AUSTRALIA
• Famous landmark – Sydney Opera House
Geographe Bay, Western Australia
The actual ‘devil’ of Tasmania!
New Zealand
• Composed of 2 main islands
• Mt. Cook is on the South Island
• Very remote nation• Settled by the British
New Zealand – Mt. Cook is the tallest peak, Named for Captain James Cook, a European explorer
New Zealand• ‘Lord of the Rings’
Trilogy was filmed in NZ• NZ has more sheep
than people!• Also has very beautiful
landscapes
The Maori of New Zealand• Original settlers of NZ• Famous for their tattoos
and greeting dance • He is just saying Hi!
Maori greeting rituals
• Greeting dance • Maori’s greet by rubbing noses
Pacific Islands• The Pacific has 3
types of islands• Polynesia = many• Melanesia = dark• Micronesia = small
Vanuatu was used as a
‘Survivor’ location
Tahiti, French Polynesia
East Timor – one of the newest country in the
world
Violence in East Timor committed by Indonesian terrorists killed thousands.
ANTARCTICA > HARSH CONTINENT
Transantarctic mtns are an extension of the Rockies and Andes
• The south polar ice cap receives only 2 inches of precipitation each year (more than some deserts). The accumulated ice never melts, is over 15,000 feet thick in some areas, and depresses the continental land mass under its weight (over 2,000 feet in some areas). The bottom of this ice pack may be over 100,000 years old and holds a record (layer by layer) of the history of earth with each layer.
• The continent of Antarctica remained a mystery until 1821. It was not until February of 1821 that the first men are known to have set foot on the continent of Antarctica.
This southern cap of our planet contains 70% of the freshwater and 90% of the ice on Earth.. all tourists must stay on the vessels that bring them. Many countries have scientific research stations that are homes for the scientists and support personnel.
The ocean around Antarctica runs completely around planet Earth in one direction (to the east). Some books (and NGS, CIA) refer to this area as the "Southern Ocean."
• The name Antarctica was originally used over 2,000 years ago –
• Aristotle, postulated that a great land mass had to exist in the southern hemisphere in order to balance all the land in the northern hemisphere.
• He called this southern land mass "Anti-Arctos," the counterpart to Arctos (the prominent constellation of the northern hemisphere - the Great Bear).
• A south polar view of Earth shows the continent of Antarctica like a large cap (bigger than the United States and Mexico put together)
• with a peninsula extending northward (toward the tip of South America). This peninsula is called the Antarctic Peninsula and is one of the first places to thaw during the Antarctic summer.
• The map shows research stations and territorial claims
• What you see on most maps is actually the ice sheet – the landmass is not visible in most places.
25 facts
