Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives In order to successfully complete this subject students will need to show that they can utilise standard information search and retrieval techniques to access the body of literature describing the evolution of Australia's landscape, vegetation and climate patterns, and have a good basic understanding of that literature, including any competing theories or ideas; can synthesise and interpret the relevant material in such a way that the important ideas and arguments can be coherently communicated to others, either by written or oral means; are familiar and proficient with some simple techniques for analysing basic geographic and physical environmental information, including map reading and interpretation, classification and analysis of data using standard techniques including basic statistical analysis; have developed an appreciation of the importance of field work in studying the natural environment, along with the problems associated with making field measurements of natural phenomena.
Synopsis In three themes, this subject provides students with understandings of important aspects of the Australian physical environment, within a global environmental context. The first theme considers late Cainozoic physical environments. Following a brief review of tectonic processes which gave rise to present-day distributions of land and sea, the impact of past and present geomorphic processes upon desert landscapes, humid landscapes and glacial and periglacial landscapes is considered, along with the influence of humans in the area of land degradation and desertification. The second theme, `Australia's biogeographical heritage', provides a broad geographical perspective on Australia's vegetational environments, emphasising the present distribution and diversity of community types. The final theme `Australia's atmospheric environment' begins with a broad introduction to the global atmosphere, its structure and basic meteorological processes. The focus then narrows to a more detailed consideration of the weather and climate of the Australian region, with particular attention to broad-scale controls on Australian weather and climate (eg, the El-Nino Southern Oscillation phenomenon) and to a discussion of characteristic seasonal weather patterns.
Assessment Written (2000 words): 35% + Examinations (2 hours): 50% + Practical work: 15%