3.1.1 Flashcards
how can relationships with environments be described
Perceptions – what we think about outdoor environments
Interactions – what we do in, and with, the outdoor environments
Impacts – what happens as a result of our relationships with outdoor environments.
Our perceptions help to determine the interactions we have, and the interactions we have also help to influence our perceptions.
prehistory of australia
Characterised by a dynamic and ever-changing environment.
Geological time scale is a system used by geologists and palaeologists to divide Earth’s history into different periods.
Begins 4.6 billion years ago
Triassic Period (252-201 million years ago)
Jurassic Period (200-145 million years ago)
Cretaceous Period (144-66 million years ago)
Paleogene Period (65-23 million years ago)
Neogene Period (22-2.6 million years ago)
Quaternary Period (2.5 million years ago to present)
what is mega fauna
Many of the animals that lived in Australia before humans first arrived are known collectively as megafauna – large animals.
Based on fossils that have been found, megafauna became scarce and then extint in Australia by the end of the Plleistocene era, between 11700 and 7000 years ago. Marked the end of the ice age and brought major changes to the Australian environment.
prehistory of australia
Rocks and soils that make up Victoria’s landscape have undergone the same process that occur all around the world
Volcanism, uplift, sedimentation, folding, faulting, erosion and weathering.
For much of the history of Australia, Victoria and the whole eastern part of Australia didn’t exist – they only formed about 500 million years ago. Some of the oldest rocks in Victoria can be seen on the exposed coast at Waratah Bay, near Phillip Island
For much of its history, Victoria was a seabed – fossilised sea life has been found in the Victorian Alps
The low-lying areas around Gippsland and Western Port Bay, formed from the separation of Australia and Antarctica, became swamps and marshes.
Characteristics of Pre-Human Australia
There are three key characteristics that were a feature of the Australian environment before humans arrived, and each has been shaped by our geological history:
1. Biological isolation
2. Geological stability
3. Climatic variations
what is biological isolation
Australia separated from Gondwana millions of years ago due to continental drift; therefore, flora and fauna were isolated from other continents, thus adapting in a unique way.
what is geological stability
Australia has low tectonic, volcanic and glacial activity.
what is climatic varaition
Australia is generally regarded as the driest inhabited continent (Antarctica is the driest, but has no permanent human inhabitants)
The large areas of desert and arid lands has been significant in the development of Australia’s flora and fauna, but the variation in Australia’s climate over time has perhaps been more important in shaping the ways plants and animals have evolved and adapted.
Large scale climatic changes
Ice ages, periodic warming events, over many millions of years.
Periodic change in ocean temperatures off the western coast of South America has led to an erratic climate felt on both side of the Pacific Ocean, including the Australian continent
whats the ENSO cycle
The ENSO cycle loosely operates over timescales from one to eight years, shifting from the neutral phase to El Nino (dry and hot) to La Nina (wet and cool).
The ENSO results in drier-than-normal conditions in winter and spring in eastern Australia.
Increase in droughts and the risk of bushfires, which cause haze and decrease in air quality
La Nina is the reverse process to El Nino. When it occurs, Australia has more significant periods of rainfall and cooler daytime temperatures.
