1- Landforms and Resources

I) Southeast Asia: Mainland and Islands

A) Peninsulas and Islands
a) Indochinese Peninsula
(i) larger and rectangular of the two
b) Malay Peninsula
(i) narrow strip of land nearly connecting the mainland to the islands
c) Islands
(i) most of the island groups are an archipelago
1 a set of closely grouped islands, usually forming a curved arc
(ii) the Malay Archipelago includes the Philippines and Indonesia
B) Mountains and Volcanoes
a) ranges include the Annamese Cordillera, Bilauktaung Range, and the Arakan Yoma
b) most mountains were created by volcanoes
(i) the region is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire
1 volcanoes and earthquakes are common, as are tsunamis
C) Rivers and Coastlines
a) large rivers cross the area and near the coast spread into fertile deltas
b) the Mekong River begins in China, crosses several other countries, and empties off
the coast of Vietnam
(i) all the countries it touches rely on the fresh water and fertile soil nearby for
farming and fishing
D) Resources
a) the most valuable resource is fertile soil
(i) the soil is especially good from the combination of volcanic ash and nearby
flooding rivers
b) fishing is also a valuable resource since most of the land is near water
c) few countries have valuable mineral resources
II) Lands of the Pacific and Antarctica
A) Oceania
a) no one knows how many islands are in the Pacific because some are created or
disappear every day, however the estimate is around 20,000
(i) these islands make up the region we call Oceania
b) most islands fit into two categories: high and low islands
(i) high islands are created by underwater volcanoes (like Hawaii)
(ii) low islands are created by coral reefs
c) most of the islands have little to no natural resources
(i) the more stable islands, like New Guinea, New Caledonia, Fiji, etc have some
precious metals, but even these are not in large amounts
B) New Zealand
a) made of two islands: North and South Island
(i) running down the center of South Island is a mountain range called the Southern
Alps running 300 miles
1 16 of the mountains reach higher than 10,000 feet
2 several rivers from melting glaciers flow down into the ocean
 (ii) the North Island has high hills, but is not mountainous and has fertile farmland
and forests
1 the coastline also has natural harbors for numerous ports
b) New Zealand has little mineral resources, but the numerous rivers means they can
build dams for hydroelectricity
(i) the North Island also has a volcanic area that regularly gives off steam, which
they use to power generators
C) Australia
a) Australia is both the smallest and the flattest continent in the world
(i) at the highest point, the land barely breaks 5,000 feet
(ii) without elevation, Australia also has few rivers
b) they have numerous natural resources
(i) includes diamonds, opals, and coal, among others
c) the Great Barrier Reef runs along Australia’s northeast coast
(i) called the largest reef in the world, but is actually a chain of more than 2,500 reefs
with about 400 species of reef there
D) Antarctica
a) generally circular, and most of the land is covered by a thick layer of ice
(i) under the ice, the Transantarctic Mountains divide the continent into East and
West
1 East is a plateau surrounded by mountains and valleys
2 West is a series of islands connected and covered by ice
b) the ice sheet is the largest collection of fresh water in the world
(i) scientists believe there are many natural resources under the ice, but in 1991 26
countries agreed not to mine Antarctica for at least 50 years

2- Climate and Vegetation

I) Widespread Tropics
A) Year-Round Rains
a) much of Southeast Asia and Oceania has a Tropical Wet climate
(i) average temperature is 80oF and it rains almost every day
(ii) some areas are more comfortable due to elevation or ocean currents
B) Wet and Dry Seasons
a) parts of Southeast Asia, Australia, and some areas of Oceania have wet and dry
seasons caused by monsoon winds
b) temperatures are consistently hot, and rainfall is affected by the presence of
mountains
c) these areas are also subject to typhoons (basically hurricanes)
C) Tropical Plants
a) Southeast Asia has diverse plant life, especially trees
(i) some types of tropical evergreens are unique to the area, and the forests also
contain large amounts of incredibly valuable teak
b) Oceania has little in the way of vegetation
 (i) most of the soil is poor, but in areas with good soil and consistent rain, the islands
have abundant flowers and trees, like coconut palms
II) Bands of Moderate Climate
A) Hot Summers, Mild Winters
a) along the northeastern part of Australia, the region has a humid subtropical climate
with hot summers, mild winters, and heavy rainfall
(i) the area gets an average of 126 inches of rain per year
b) parts of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar also have this climate
B) Mild Summers, Cool Winters
a) southeastern Australia and New Zealand have a marine west coast climate, with mild
summers and cool winters
(i) rainfall is affected by the mountain chain in New Zealand, where some parts get
lots of rain and others can be much dryer
(ii) mountains also affect the climate- the higher you are, the colder it is
b) in Australia, the slight elevation prevents the cooler, wetter climate of the East from
moving further West
(i) this area therefore is more comfortable, and has the highest population
III) Hot and Cold Deserts
A) Australia
a) the western third of Australia is desert
(i) it receives less than 10 inches of rain per year
b) surrounding the desert is an area of semiarid land that gets about 20 inches of rain
(i) this area can support small amounts of life if irrigated properly
c) the entire region has a very low population and is commonly called the outback
B) The White Desert
a) since cold air doesn’t hold moisture very well, Antarctica gets very little precipitation,
so technically it is a desert
b) the only plants that can survive are lichens and mosses, and animal life is restricted to
sea life and birds, including penguins

3- Human-Environment Interaction

I) Traveling the Pacific

A) Navigation Charts
a) the original people came via land bridges and small rafts and canoes to reach nearby
islands
b) eventually, they started making better boats and venturing farther away from land
(i) they learned to use the stars to navigate
c) they also learned to make navigation charts out of sticks and shells
(i) these showed wave patterns over distance and the location of islands
(ii) after contact with Europeans in the 1800s, they switched to their methods
B) Special Canoes
a) to sail the massive Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islanders developed double hulls (called
catamarans)
(i) these were very stable and could hold large amounts of weight
 (ii) they also developed sails to carry them long distances
1 using these vessels, Pacific Islanders reached New Zealand, Hawaii, and
Easter Island
b) in lagoons where the Islanders tended to settle, the large catamarans were difficult to
use
(i) they developed the outrigger canoe, which has a single hull and a counterbalance
float for balance
II) Invasion of the Rabbits
A) Rabbit Problem
a) when people move to colonize new areas, they often bring plants and animals with
them
(i) in the case of Thomas Austin, he enjoyed hunting rabbits so much that he brought
and release 24 rabbits into Australia
1 a single pair of rabbits can have up to 184 babies in 18 months
2 without natural predators, by 1900 Australia had over 1 billion rabbits
b) due to Australia’s arid climate, there is not much vegetation
(i) the rabbits ate or trampled much of the small plants, leading to the extinction of
some plants and increased erosion of certain areas
(ii) native animals became endangered because there was not enough food for them
B) Control Measures
a) in an attempt to control the rabbit population, the inhabitants brought in their primary
predator, the fox
(i) however the foxes had no predators, and their population began to affect the area
in the same way the rabbits had
b) Australians tried building a 2000 mile long fence to contain the rabbits, but it only
worked for a few years before the rabbits broke through
c) in the 1950s, the government infected rabbits with a targeted disease which wiped out
about 90% of the rabbit population, but by the 1990s the rabbits had become immune
and numbers were back up to about 300 million
d) since then, Australians use whatever means they can to control the population,
including poison, fences, introducing new diseases, and destroying burrows
C) Emu War
a) in addition to issues with rabbits, increased clearing of the land for farming led to
emus (large non-flying birds) to change migration patterns
(i) every year, thousands of emus would migrate, but when they came across the
cleared land and plentiful food, they stopped and ate the crops
(ii) farmers asked the government for help, who sent the military armed with new
machine guns
1 a series of blunders and unexpected behavior from emus led to many emus
being killed, but not nearly enough to stop the problem
2 in addition, the emus knocked down fences while trying to escape, which let
the rabbits expand as well
b) eventually the military left, the problem continued, and the event was jokingly called
the Emu War
III) Nuclear Testing
A) Bikini Atoll
 a) an atoll is a ring of islands surrounding a lagoon
b) in 1946, the US decided to use the populated region for testing because it was far
from shipping lanes by air and sea
c) they moved the 167 inhabitants to another nearby island
(i) the natives believed they would return home quickly
d) they detonated numerous nuclear weapons, including the largest US made hydrogen
bomb ever, Bravo
(i) that one bomb vaporized 3 islands and contaminated the entire region with
radiation
B) Long-Term Effects
a) in the 1970s, some people returned, but soon became sick with radiation poisoning
(i) to this day, the area is still too radioactive to be habitable