Difference between revisions of "Earth Science 7- Antarctica/ Australia/ New Zealand Period 1"

Revision as of 19:45, 22 November 2011

Earth Science 7-Regions

Antarctica

Regions:

Queen Maud Land,Graham Land,Wilkes Land,Marie Byrd Land,and Victoria Land. [1]

Latitude:

90 degrees north [2]

Longitude:

0 degrees east [3]

Average Elevation:

7,000-8,000 Ft. [4]

Highest Spot:

Vinson Massif: 16,066 Ft. [5]

Lowest Spot:

Bentley Subglacial Trench, 8,333 Ft. below sea level. [6]

Large bodies of water:

Ross Sea, Weddell Sea, Amundsen Sea, Southern Ocean, [7]and the Onyx River. [8]

Major topographic features:

Ross Ice Shelf, Transantacrtic Mountains, Prince Charles Mountains, and the Ellsworth Mountains. [9]

Bordering Oceans:

The Southern Ocean [10]

Weather at McMurdo Station:

Average Monthly Temperature:

-15.119 degrees Celsius [11]

Highest Monthly Temperature:

-13.692 degrees Celsius [12]

Lowest Monthly Temperature:

-20.908 degrees Celsius [13]

Average Monthly Precipitation:

0.665 of an inch [14]

Climate Zone:

EF, ice cap, perennial ice. [15]

Factors that Affect Antarctica’s Climate

Antarctica is generally mountainous with elevations ranging from 6,600 Ft. to 13.200 Ft.. Because temperature decreases with altitude, Antarctica’s elevation is a factor of why it’s so cold. Another factor of Antarctica’s climate is that Antarctica lies south of 60˚ latitude, where it’s difficult for the sun’s rays to reach Earth. Plants (or absence of) are another factor of Antarctica’s climate. This is because Antarctica is a desert (due to Antarctica containing cold, dry air) and the definition of desert is any barren land with very little rainfall, extreme temperatures (hot or cold), and sparse vegetation, so even vegetation (or lack thereof)can help determine Antarctica’s climate. Even the waters surrounding Antarctica play a role in determining Antarctica’s temperatures and precipitation. The Southern Ocean, an ocean bordering Antarctica, is home to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the most powerful current on Earth, which flows east completely around the Earth in a great circle just to the north of Antarctica. This current tends to bring cold water to the south, near Antarctica, and warmer water to the north. Also, because water cools slowly and heats slowly, it will keep cool because Antarctica is generally freezing and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current brings cold water to the already cold water. The cold water will also affect the climate of Antarctica because one, the water is surrounding Antarctica, which is basically a island made out of ice, and two, because of sea breezes and land breezes etc. [16] However, ocean currents that keep the waters cold don’t just show up by themselves; prevailing west winds “drag” ocean currents, primarily westerlies, along beneath them. And why do the winds head toward Antarctica? Because Antarctica is in a low pressure zone and winds spiral out of highs and into lows. Low pressure also means that Antarctica is very cold and dry, and that affects the climate a great deal. [17]

References:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ay.html

http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com/discoweb/disco/do/article?urn=urn%3Asirs%3AUS%3BARTICLE%3BART%3B0000220721

http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/antarctica%20environment/climate_graph/vostok_south_pole_mcmurdo.htm

http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=SUIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CCX3425900016&mode=view

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/global/climate_max.htm

http://school.eb.com/all/eb/article-9109381?query=Antarctica&ct=null

Links:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ay.html

http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com/discoweb/disco/do/article?urn=urn%3Asirs%3AUS%3BARTICLE%3BART%3B0000220721

http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/antarctica%20environment/climate_graph/vostok_south_pole_mcmurdo.htm

http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=SUIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CCX3425900016&mode=view

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/global/climate_max.htm

http://school.eb.com/all/eb/article-9109381?query=Antarctica&ct=null

Australia

Regions: Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, and South Australia. [18]

Latitude: 27 degrees south. [19]

Longitude: 133 degrees east. [20]

Average Elevation: 1,000 Ft. [21]

Highest Spot: Mount Kosciuszko, 7,350 Ft. [22]

Lowest Spot: Lake Eyre, 49 Ft. below sea level. [23]

Large Bodies of Water: Murray River, Darling River, Murrumbidgee River, Lake Eyre, Gulf of Carpentaria, [24] Timor Sea, Coral Sea, Tasman Sea, and the Great Austrian Bight. [25]

Major Topographic features: The Great Barrier Reef. [26]

Bordering Oceans: The Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean [27]

Climate Zones: The northern parts of Australia are tropical climates, varied between tropical rain forests, grasslands, and part desert. It is ruled by hot sinking air, of the subtropical pressure belt, which moves north and south seasonally.

Highs and Lows: Seasonal highs and lows range from well above 50 degrees Celsius, to below 0 degrees Celsius.

Rainfall: The monthly average of rainfall is 4.13 in.

Average Monthly Temperature: High: 28.6 degrees Celsius. Low: 12.84 degrees Celsius.

References: http://school.eb.com/all/eb/article-9110544?query=Australia&ct=null

http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=true&prodId=SUIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ2171100009&mode=view

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/as.html

Links: http://school.eb.com/all/eb/article-9110544?query=Australia&ct=null

http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=true&prodId=SUIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ2171100009&mode=view

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/as.html

New Zealand

==Regions:== North Island and South Island. [28]

==Latitude:== 41 degrees south. [29]

==Longitude:== 174 degrees east. [30]

Average Elevation:

==Highest Spot:== Aoraki-Mount Cook, 12316 Ft. [31]

==Lowest Spot:== Pacific Ocean, 0 Ft. [32]

==Large Bodies of Water:== Tasman Sea, [33] Waikato River, Lake Taupo, [34] Foveaux Straight, Cook Straight, and Tasman Bay. [35]

==Major Topographic features:== Volcanoe Edmont/Taranaki, Volcanoe Ruapehu, Volcanoe Nuguaruhoe, Volcanoe Tongariro, and Aoraki-Mount Cook. [36]

==Bordering Oceans:== Pacific Ocean.[37]

==Average Monthly Rainfall:== 4.34 inches.[38]

==Average Monthly Precipitation:== 4.1 inches [39]

==Average Monthly Temperature:== High- 19 degrees Celciuis Low- 12.5 degrees Celcius

References: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/nz.html

http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=true&prodId=SUIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ2171600006&mode=view

http://school.eb.com/all/comptons/article-9276082?query=New%20zealand&ct=null

http://www.worldclimate.com/cgi-bin/data.pl?ref=S41E174+2100+93434W

http://www.climatetemp.info/new-zealand/wellington.html

==Links:== https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/nz.html

http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=true&prodId=SUIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ2171600006&mode=view

http://school.eb.com/all/comptons/article-9276082?query=New%20zealand&ct=null

http://www.worldclimate.com/cgi-bin/data.pl?ref=S41E174+2100+93434W