OCEANIA LANDFORMS AND RESOURCES

There are two big peninsulas that branch off of Southeast Asia.

• Indochinese Peninsula

• Malay Peninsula

There are also many archipelagoes in this region.

• These are closely grouped islands.

• The Philippines is an example.

Rivers & Coastlines

• There’s obviously a lot of coastline since there are a bunch of islands.

• There’s also some important rivers on the mainland, such as the Mekong.

• The Mekong fans out into a wide delta as it nears the coast.

• The Mekong is also home to the world’s largest catfish.

• The largest one on record, caught in 2005, was 9 feet long and weighed 646 pounds.

Mountains and Volcanoes

• There’s a bunch since this area sits on the ring of fire.

• Islands

• They actually evolve over time. Many start out as volcanoes and end up as atolls.

• This is because coral reefs will grow up around the volcano and remain after the volcano erodes into the sea.

• The volcano part is called a high island. What’s left later is a low island.

A high island

A low island

An atoll

From volcano to atoll

Australia is relatively flat and much of it is a desert.

Australia also has the Great Barrier Reef, a 1250 mile chain of coral reefs.

Coral

ANTARCTICA

5th largest continent Centered on the South Pole Transantarctic Mountains divide the

continent in 2 East Antarctica = plateau surrounded

by mountains and valleys West Antarctica = islands linked by

ice

ANTARCTICA

It’s ice sheet is the largest supply of fresh water in the world

Coal, minerals and other resources may lie beneath the ice

In 1991, 26 nations agreed not to mine Antarctica for 50 years

CHAPTER 30, SECTION 1 QUESTIONSPG. 689

1. What 2 peninsulas make up Southeast Asia?2. What is an archipelago?3. Southeast Asia is part of this geographically volatile region

in the Pacific.4. Why is the soil in Southeast Asia so filled with nutrients (2

factors).5. As a group, what are the Pacific Islands referred to as?6. What are the 2 categories of islands in the Pacific?7. What resources are found in Oceania?8. What is the smallest continent on earth?9. This is the world’s largest coral reef.10. This continent is hidden by a thick sheet of ice.