Australian deserts
Region p18 ● Australia – natural features p30 ● Queensland p58 ● Southern South America p216
Australia is the world’s driest inhabited continent; over 70 per cent of its land mass is considered to be arid or semi-arid.
1.
2.
What evidence is there in the following images found in the Jacaranda Atlas Sixth Edition that suggests that much of
Australia is an arid region?
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satellite image (p100) ..............................................................................................................................................
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map (p101) ..............................................................................................................................................................
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Mount Conner photograph (p33) .............................................................................................................................
Look carefully at the satellite image and map on pages 30–1 of the atlas.
(a)
Identify, colour and label Australia’s main desert regions on the map below. (Be sure to include the colour you
use in the key.) Little Sandy, Canning, Central, Tirari and Strzelecki deserts have already been labelled for
you:
Great Victoria Desert, Simpson Desert, Sturt Stony Desert, Great Sandy Desert, Tanami Desert, Gibson
Desert
(b)
Use another colour to shade the arid region that surrounds Australia’s desert regions. (Include it, too, in the
key.)
(c)
Mark and label the following mountain ranges on your map using the information on pages 30–1 of the atlas.
Great Dividing Range, Flinders Ranges, Musgrave Ranges, Carnarvon Range, Hamersley Range,
Davenport Range and MacDonnell Ranges
© John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2007
aust-deserts.pdf
(Page 1 of 2)
(d)
Refer to the map on page 18. Use arrows similar to that in the map key above to mark in the cold ocean
currents that affect Australia.
(e)
Use your completed map and information on pages 18, 30 and 216 to suggest how each of the following
features has helped form Australia’s desert regions.
•
Mountains
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Cold ocean currents
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3.
Look at the climate information below for Birdsville, Queensland.
Average maximum
temperature (°C)
Average monthly
rainfall (mm)
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
31
31
28
23
18
27
28
18
9
12
June
July
Aug.
Sep.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
15
14
16
20
24
28
30
11
11
6
6
12
14
16
Temperature and rainfall statistics, Birdsville (to 1996)
(a)
Use the table and base grid (on the right) to draw a climograph for
Birdsville. Samples of climographs can be found on page 58 of the
atlas.
(b)
Which clues in your completed climograph suggest that Birdsville
is located in a desert region?
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(c)
How does Birdsville’s climate compare with that of your state’s
capital city? You will find your capital city’s climograph between
pages 58 and 112 of the atlas.
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(d)
Refer to page 59 of the atlas. Mark in the location of Birdsville on your map of Australian deserts above. Which
Australian desert is Birdsville nearest to? What direction is it from this desert?
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© John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2007
aust-deserts.pdf
(Page 2 of 2)