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Geography of Australia
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This article is about the geography of the Commonwealth of Australia. For a treatment of the continent, see Australia (continent). For the mainland, see Mainland Australia.
Coordinates: 27°S 144°E / 27°S 144°E / -27; 144
Geography of Australia
Continent
Australia
Region
Oceania
Coordinates
27°00′00″S 144°00′00″E / 27.000°S 144.000°E / -27.000; 144.000
Area
Ranked 6th
• Total
7,686,850 km2 (2,967,910 sq mi)
• Land
99%
• Water
1%
Coastline
25,765 km (16,010 mi)
Borders
none
Highest point
Mount Kosciuszko
2,228 m (7,310 ft)
Lowest point
Lake Eyre,
−15 m (−49 ft)
Longest river
Murray River,
2,375 km (1,476 mi)
Largest lake
Lake Eyre
9,500 km2 (3,668 sq mi)
Climate
Mostly desert or semi-arid, south-east and south-west corners: temperate, north: tropical climate, varied between tropical rainforests, grasslands, part desert.
Terrain
mostly low plateau with deserts, rangelands and a fertile plain in the southeast
Natural Resources
minerals, coal, and timber
Natural Hazards
Cyclones along the northern coasts, severe thunderstorms, droughts, occasional floods, heat waves, and frequent bushfires
The geography of Australia encompasses a wide variety of biogeographic regions being the world's smallest continent but the sixth-largest country in the world. The population of Australia is concentrated along the eastern and southeastern coasts. The geography of the country is extremely diverse, ranging from the snow-capped mountains of the Australian Alps and Tasmania to large deserts, tropical and temperate forests.
Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the French dependency of New Caledonia to the east, and New Zealand to the southeast.
Contents
1 Physical geography
1.1 Geology
1.2 Regions
1.3 Hydrology
2 Political geography
3 Climate
4 Natural hazards
5 Environment
6 Antipodes
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Physical geography[edit]
Physical map of Australia
Australia on the globe (+Antarctic claims hatched)
Australia is a country, a continent and an island. It is located in Oceania between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. It is the sixth largest country in the world with a total area of 7,686,850 square kilometres (2,967,910 sq mi) (including Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island), making it slightly smaller than the 48 states of the contiguous United States and 31.5 times larger than the United Kingdom.
The Australian mainland has a total coastline length of 35,877 km (22,293 mi) with an additional 23,859 km (14,825 mi) of island coastlines.[1] There are 758 estuaries around the country with most located in the tropical and sub-tropical zones.[2] Australia claims an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres (3,146,057 sq. mi). This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory.
Australia has the largest area of ocean jurisdiction of any country on earth.[3] It has no land borders. The northernmost points of the country are the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland and the Top End of the Northern Territory. The western half of Australia consists of the Western Plateau, which rises to mountain heights near the west coast and falls to lower elevations near the continental centre. The Western Plateau region is generally flat, though broken by various mountain ranges such as the Hamersley Range, the MacDonnell Ranges, and the Musgrave Range. Surface water is generally lacking in the Western Plateau, although there are several larger rivers in the west and north, such as the Murchison, Ashburton, and Victoria river.
The Eastern Highlands, or Great Dividing Range, lie near the eastern coast of Australia, separating the relatively narrow eastern coastal plain from the rest of the continent. These Eastern Australian temperate forests have the greatest relief, the most rainfall, the most abundant and varied flora and fauna, and the densest human settlement.
Between the Eastern Highlands and the Western Plateau, lie the Central Lowlands, which are made up of the Great Artesian Basin and Australia's largest river systems, Murray-Darling Basin and Lake Eyre Basin.
Off the eastern coast of Australia is the world's largest coral reef complex, the Great Barrier Reef. The State of Tasmania, a large and mountainous island, resides in the south-eastern corner of Australia.
Geology[edit]
Main article: Geology of Australia
Basic geological units of Australia
Australia is the lowest, flattest, and oldest continental landmass on Earth[4] and it has had a relatively stable geological history. Geological forces such as tectonic uplift of mountain ranges or clashes between tectonic plates occurred mainly in Australia's early history, when it was still a part of Gondwana. Its highest peak is Mount Kosciuszko at 2,228 metres (7,310 ft), which is relatively low in comparison to the highest mountains on other continents. Erosion has heavily weathered Australia's surface.
Australia is situated in the middle of the tectonic plate, and therefore currently has no active volcanism. Minor earthquakes which produce no damage occur regularly, while major earthquakes measuring greater than magnitude 6 occur on average every five years.[5] The terrain is mostly low plateau with deserts, rangelands and a fertile plain in the southeast. Tasmania and the Australian Alps do not contain any permanent icefields or glaciers, although they may have existed in the past. The Great Barrier Reef, by far the world's largest coral reef, lies a short distance off the north-east coast.
Regions[edit]
Main articles: Regions of Australia and Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia
IBRA version 7 map
A map depicting the states and territories of Australia, and the National Highway system
The Australian continental landmass consists of six distinct landform divisions.[6] These are:
The Eastern Highlands—including the Great Dividing Range, the fertile Brigalow Belt strip of grassland behind the east coast, and the Eastern Uplands
The Eastern alluvial Plains and Lowlands—the Murray Darling basin covers the southern part; also includes parts of the Lake Eyre Basin and extends to the Gulf of Carpentaria
The South Australian Highlands—including the Flinders Range, Eyre Peninsula, and Yorke Peninsula
The Western Plateau—including the Nullarbor Plain
The Central Deserts
Northern Plateau and Basins—including the Top End
See also: Ecoregions in Australia
Hydrology[edit]
Relief map showing major rivers and lakes
Because much of Australia's interior is arid, the low average annual rainfall means interior rivers are often dry and lakes empty. The headwaters of some waterways are located in tropical regions where summer rains create a high rate of discharge. Flood events drastically alter the dry environment in which the ecology of central Australia has had to adapt to the boom and bust cycle.
The Great Artesian Basin is an important source of water, the world's largest and deepest fresh water basin. Access to water from the basin has led to the expansion of grazing into areas that were previously far too dry for livestock. Towns and cities across the country sometimes face major water storage and usage crises in which restrictions and other measures are implemented to reduce water consumption. Water restrictions are based on a gradient of activities that become progressively banned as the situation worsens.
Billabong is the Australian name given to the oxbow lakes that can form along a meandering river's course. In a worldwide comparison of height, Australia's waterfalls are relatively insignificant, with the longest drop ranked 135th according to the World Waterfall Database.[7]
See also: Water security in Australia
Political geography[edit]
Main article: States and territories of Australia
A clickable map of Australia's states, mainland territories and their capitals
Australia consists of six states, two major mainland territories, and other minor territories. The states are New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia. The two major mainland territories are the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. Western Australia is the largest state covering just under one third of the Australian landmass, followed by Queensland, South Australia, and New South Wales.
Australia also has several minor territories; the federal government administers a separate area within New South Wales, the Jervis Bay Territory, as a naval base and sea port for the national capital. In addition Australia has the following inhabited, external territories: Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and several largely uninhabited external territories: Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Coral Sea Islands, and Heard Island and McDonald Islands. Australia also claims a portion of Antarctica as the Australian Antarctic Territory, although this claim is not widely recognized.
See also: Subdivisions of Australia and Suburbs and localities (Australia)
Climate[edit]
Main article: Climate of Australia
Climate map of Australia
By far the largest part of Australia is arid or semi-arid. A total of 18% of Australia's mainland consists of named deserts,[8] while additional areas are considered to have a desert climate based on low rainfall and high temperature. Only the south-east and south-west corners have a temperate climate and moderately fertile soil. The northern part of the country has a tropical climate: part is tropical rainforests, part grasslands, and part desert.
Rainfall is highly variable, with frequent droughts lasting several seasons thought to be caused in part by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Occasionally a dust storm will blanket a region or even several states and there are reports of the occasional large tornado. Rising levels of salinity and desertification in some areas is ravaging the landscape.
Australia's tropical/subtropical location and cold waters off the western coast make most of western Australia a hot desert with aridity, a marked feature of the greater part of the continent. These cold waters produce little moisture needed on the mainland. A 2005 study by Australian and American researchers investigated the desertification of the interior, and suggested that one explanation was related to human settlers who arrived about 50,000 years ago. Regular burning by these settlers could have prevented monsoons from reaching interior Australia. The outback covers 70 percent of the continent.
Natural hazards[edit]
Cyclones along the northern coasts, severe thunderstorms, droughts, occasional floods, heat waves, and frequent bushfires are natural hazards that are present in Australia.
Environment[edit]
Main article: Environmental issues in Australia
Whitehaven Beach in Queensland in October
Current environmental issues include: soil erosion from overgrazing, industrial development, urbanization, and poor farming practices; soil salinity rising due to the use of poor quality water; desertification (partly as a result of the introduction by European settlers of Rabbits); introduced pest species; clearing for agricultural purposes threatens the natural habitat of many unique animal and plant species; the Great Barrier Reef off the northeast coast, the largest coral reef in the world, is threatened by increased shipping and its popularity as a tourist site; limited natural fresh water resources; threats from invasive species.
International agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Kyoto Protocol, Biodiversity, China–Australia Migratory Bird Agreement, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Japan–Australia Migratory Bird Agreement, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban 1963, Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 1994, Ramsar Convention, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Desertification
Grassland and mountain ranges in Queensland
The Victorian Alps
Antipodes[edit]
Australia is antipodal to the North Atlantic. There are no land areas included, though Bermuda has its antipodes just off Perth, Flores Island in the western Azores just off Flinders Island, Tasmania, and Cape Verde is opposite the Coral Sea.
See also[edit]
Australia portal
Geography portal
Australasian realm
Australia-New Guinea
List of cities in Australia by population
List of extreme points of Australia
List of islands of Australia
List of lakes of Australia
List of mountains in Australia
List of regions of Australia
List of rivers of Australia
List of valleys of Australia
List of waterfalls of Australia
Protected areas of Australia
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "Border Lengths – States and Territories". Geoscience Australia. Commonwealth of Australia. 2004. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
Jump up ^ Dennison, William C.; Eva G. Abal (1999). Moreton Bay Study: A Scientific Basis for the Healthy Waterways Campaign. Brisbane: South East Queensland Regional Water Quality Management Strategy Team. p. 220. ISBN 0-9586368-1-8.
Jump up ^ Non-Fisheries Uses in Australia's Marine Jurisdiction National Marine Atlas. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
Jump up ^ Pain, C.F., Villans, B.J., Roach, I.C., Worrall, L. & Wilford, J.R. (2012): Old, flat and red – Australia's distinctive landscape. In: Shaping a Nation: A Geology of Australia. Blewitt, R.S. (Ed.) Geoscience Australia and ANU E Press, Canberra. Pp. 227–275 ISBN 978-1-922103-43-7
Jump up ^ Kevin Mccue (26 February 2010). "Land of earthquakes and volcanoes?". Australian Geographic. Archived from the original on 6 March 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
Jump up ^ Loffler, Ernst; Anneliese Loffler; A. J. Rose; Denis Warner (1983). Australia:Portrait of a continent. Hutchinson Group. p. 18. ISBN 0-09-130460-1.
Jump up ^ "Significant Waterfalls". Geoscience Australia. Commonwealth of Australia. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
Jump up ^ "Deserts". [. Commonwealth of Australia. Archived from the original on 5 December 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook document "2000 edition".
Further reading[edit]
Miller, Gifford; Mangan, Jennifer; Pollard, David; Thompson, Starley; Felzer, Benjamin; Magee, John (2005). "Sensitivity of the Australian Monsoon to insolation and vegetation: Implications for human impact on continental moisture balance". Geology. 33 (1): 65–68. doi:10.1130/G21033.1.
"Highest Mountains". National Mapping – Fab Facts, Landforms, Australian Mountains. Archived from the original on 17 June 2005. Retrieved 7 July 2005.
External links[edit]
(in English) (in French) Map of Australia from 1826
Wikimedia Atlas of Australia
(in English) Water Usage in Australia
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Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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FDA Laboratory Building 62 (Engineering and Physics) houses the Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
The Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) is the branch of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) responsible for the premarket approval of all medical devices, as well as overseeing the manufacturing, performance and safety of these devices. The CDRH also oversees the radiation safety performance of non-medical devices which emit certain types of electromagnetic radiation, such as cellular phones and microwave ovens.
The current head of the CDRH is Jeffrey Shuren, who took over in January 2010.
Contents
[hide]
1 Regulatory classes
2 History
3 References
4 External links
Regulatory classes[edit]
CDRH splits medical devices into three classes with different regulatory requirements:
Class 1 devices include everyday items such as toothbrushes which are unlikely to cause serious consequences if they fail. Manufacturers are required to follow what are called "general controls" which closely match ISO 9000 requirements.[1]
In addition to the general controls, Class 2 devices require a premarket notification. This process, commonly known as the "510(k)" process after the relevant section of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, results in FDA clearance of a product. The intent of this class was for new manufacturers of devices that already existed when the rules were established. A Class 2 device is required to be "substantially equivalent" to existing devices. The class is now used for "medium risk" devices such as demineralized bone powder used for reconstructive surgery, which is officially substantially equivalent to Plaster of Paris, a much older product that was used for the same purpose. This equivalence is used when the FDA does not think a full approval process with extensive clinical trials is necessary.
The premarket notification process came under fire in February 2011 after the release of a study by Dr. Diana Zuckerman and Paul Brown of the National Research Center for Women and Families, and Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. It showed that most medical devices recalled in the last five years for “serious health problems or death” had been previously cleared by the FDA using the less stringent, and cheaper, 510(k) process. In a few cases the devices had been deemed so low-risk that they did not need FDA regulation. Of the 113 devices recalled, 35 were for cardiovacular issues.[2] This may lead to a reevaluation of FDA procedures and better oversight.[3]
Class 3 devices require a "Pre-market Approval" (PMA), which is analogous to the drug approval process with clinical trials and extensive review of the design. Class 3 devices tend to be products such as pacemakers which would cause obvious risk of injury or death if they did not function properly. As with all devices, the manufacturers must follow the general controls.
History[edit]
In 1982, when the beginning of the biotechnology revolution blurred the lines between drugs, biologics, and medical devices, Commissioner Arthur Hayes reorganized the FDA.[4] This reorganization merged the bureaus responsible for medical devices and radiation control into their present form, the Center for Devices and Radiological Health.[4]
References[edit]
Jump up ^ International Organization for Standardization
Jump up ^ Zuckerman et al. "Medical Device Recalls and the FDA Approval Process." Arch Intern Med. 2011; 0: 2011301-6. PMID 21321283
Jump up ^ Redberg and Dhruva. "Medical Device Recalls: Comment on 'Medical Device Recalls and the FDA Approval Process.'" Arch Intern Med. 2011; 0: 2011271-2. PMID 1321286
^ Jump up to: a b Reid, Ken. "CBER and CDER have long history of being lumped together and split up." Bioresearch Monitoring Alert Sept. 2002. page 4.
External links[edit]
CDRH official government website
Medical Devices
Radiation-Emitting Products
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v
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Food and Drug Administration of the United States
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