The Earthquake & Tsunami in Japan

On March 11, 2011, an earthquake struck the north east coast of Japan measuring an astonishing 8.9. The epicentre of the quake was about 80 miles off the east coast of Honshu, Japan and caused deadly tsunami’s, mud slides, agricultural devastation and building destruction. The tsunami reached 10km inland at a height of 10m as it swept away cars, houses and people. So far the tsunami has taken at least 2,000 lives. The Fukishima Nuclear Power Plants have been severely damaged and millions are left without food and power and hospitals have no medicine.

 

The most devastated areas of the earthquake are located on the north east coasts. Towns like Sendai and Tsumi have taken the hardest hit of the earthquakes destructive force.

1.11 Australia’s Energy Resources

1. Three non-renewable energy resources are:

·         -Coal

·         -Oil

·         -Gas

2. Three renewable energy resources are:

·         -Solar

·         -Wind

·         -Hydro-Electricity

3. Australia is looking to develop clean energy sources due to the concern of the environment and climate change.

4. The top four coal produces in the world are: China, USA, India and Australia.

5. Australia’s coal reserves are up to 76 billion tonnes.

6. Australia is rich in natural gas resources

7. The Solar Power Plant to be built in Mildura, Victoria will cover 0.8 square kilometres. It will use technology developed to power satellites and consist of fields of mirrors. Because of the size and the mirrors, the Sun’s energy will be concentrated using cells that produce 1500 times more energy than a typical rooftop solar panel.

8. Electricity can be generated by the wind using large turbines. The wind will blow the 

turbines around causing friction to generate electricity.

9.

Advantages	Disadvantages
·         Provides 18,000 households with their energy needs, 2% of SA’s residential customers ·         Will reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions by around 2 million tonnes. ·         Will hold 23 turbines	·         Will cost $65 million ·         Will last 25 years ·         It will ruin the views of the country.

10. Hydro Power, Wind Power and Solar Power are all Renewable Energy Sources and give of no greenhouse gasses. They don’t hurt the environment and are easy to make.

13. The Gas Fields of Australia are located on the West Coasts, inland and the South Coasts covering 1,000’s of kilometres squared. The pipelines are directed to the main cities and towns around Australia most of them located in Victoria & NSW.

14. a.) i. AU $15 billion approx.

          ii. AU $5.05 billion approx.

          iii. AU $3 billion approx.

b.) i. AU $25 billion

     ii. AU $ 5.3 billion approx.

     iii. AU $ 3 billion approx.

c.) Coal has the greatest increase in export value.

1.10 Australia’s Natural Resources

1. Resources are any material that can be used by humans.

2. Renewable Resources: A material which can be reproduced within a human lifetime.

Non-Renewable Resources: A material which takes thousands or even millions of years to form.

3. Renewable Resources can become Non-Renewable from over-exploitation.

4. Soil is a very valuable resource as it is very old and fragile. Soil provides nutrients to organisms and allows successful agriculture industries.

5. Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth of forests to reach people’s needs.

6. The area of forest in Australia is 164.4 million hectares, 21%.

7. Australia’s fishing and agricultural industries are highly important. The fishing industries are worth more than $2 billion as we have high-value species like tuna and lobsters. We have the 3^rd largest fishing zone. The agricultural industries supply many types of wood to the country as well as the rest of the world. We also supply some of the best vegetables and beef in the world.

8. To protect the fish species, The Australian Fisheries Management Authority set a limit of 5265 tonnes for the southern blue fin tuna catch in 2006.

9. The mineral Black Coal is Australia’s largest reserve.

10. Australia’s mineral reserves are increasing due to improved prospecting and extraction technologies.

11. Australia has a forest area of 164.4 million hectares, 21% of the land area and if split up, every person would receive 8.2 hectares. This land is divided equally between national parks and farms. The Native Forest area is 162.7 hectares, the Plantation Forest area is 1.7 million hectares and the Forest area in Nature Conservation Reserves is 21.5 million hectares.

12. Uranium is a valuable resource as it holds a lot of energy. Uranium has the potential to create weapons and power in small doses.

13. World Heritage sites are highly valuable as they attract tourists. Because of this, countries receive economic benefits.

14. Uranium mining impacts the landscape as it requires digging up the ground. Because of this, animals, plants and other life will be killed or moved.

15. Australia has a wide spread fishing zone expanding around the coasts and Islands. Around Australia, the fishing zones expand from 400-800km around the coast most of this being around the east coast. The fishing zone is also spread around Islands off Australia. These include Molfolk Island, Macquarie Island, Heard Island, the McDonald Islands, the Cocos Islands and Christmas Island.

16. a.) The Mine’s and Concentrator’s are found in the Northern Australia and South Australia. The Prospective Mines are found in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia. The Former Mines are found in Queensland, the Northern Territory and South Australia.

b.) The Former Uranium mine found in South Australia is called Radium Hill.

c.) The Uranium mine in the Northern Territory is called Ranger.

17.

As shown, Australia has the world’s most Uranium at 1, 074, 000 tonnes. Kazakhstan, Canada and South Africa are the next three ranging from 158,000t to 298,000t. The last countries are found in the Americas, Russia and parts of Asia ranging from 93, 000t to 213, 000t.

18. a.) i. AU $300,000,000 approx.

          ii. AU $240,000,000 approx.

          iii. AU $550,000,000 approx.

b.) AU $350,000,000 approx.

c.) From 1986-92, the exports of uranium were doing fairly well averaging AU $300,000 approx. From 1993-06, the exports increased each year reaching an amazing AU $530,000,000 approx.

1.7 Australia’s Unique Flora & Fauna

1. Many of Australia’s plants and animals are unique because Australia has been a separate continent for 50 million years. Because of this, Australia has evolved separately from the rest of the world.

2. Many species in Australia have survived for millions of years due to the stability of the continent.

3. Endemic refers to species that are found nowhere else in the world.

4. In Australia, 89% of reptiles are thought to be endemic.

5. Three areas in Australia with great biodiversity include:

·         The Great Barrier Reef

·         The Tropical Rainforests of Queensland

·         The South-West Botanical Province of Western Australia

 6. The richest insect fauna can be found in the Tropical Rainforests of Australia.

7. Marsupials are animals which carry their young in a pouch. E.g. A Kangaroo.

8. Monotremes are mammals which lay eggs. E.g. The Duck-Billed Platypus.

9. The difference between a kangaroo and a wallaby is the fact that wallabies are generally smaller and prefer more rugged terrain. Kangaroos are larger and are found on grassy plains.

10. The Duck-Billed Platypus is about 50cm long and weighs 1-2kg depending on their sex. They have very dark brown waterproof fur in three layers to help withstand cold temperatures. Their tail is used as a rudder and to move soil when burrowing. Their main purpose is to store fat when food is low. They store their food in cheek pouches and grind their body weight of food in 24 hours using grinding pads in their mouths.

The Duck-Billed Platypus has a grey bill with two nostrils used to detect prey. They also close their ears when they dive and have small, beady eyes sensitive to movement which also close under water. Their back feet are partially webbed and have curved claws to help steer when swimming. These fold back when on land to reveal sharp claws used to dig. For males, spurs become poisonous in breeding season and are they only venomous furry animal. The Duck-Billed Platypus’s front feet have large webs of skin to help propel through the water.

11. The Plant Banksia is generally a shrub and is about 4 metres but can grow taller. The leaves are broad with toothed margins. The conspicuous flowers are fairly squat in comparison with other Banksias and bright orange/red in colour. The spikes are about 100mm wide by a similar length and are held terminally on the stems. They are seen in late winter through to early summer, from June to January. The seeds are enclosed in follicles attached to a woody cone and are generally retained within the cone until burnt.
The plant is fire-sensitive in that it does not have lignotuber for vegetative regeneration after bushfires. The species relies on seed for regeneration.

12.


 

 

The first Graph shows the biodiversity of The Great Barrier Reef. This graph shows approximately how many of the 8 species there are living in the Reef. Molluscs and Fish have the most species. The second Graph shows the biodiversity of The Tropical Rainforest. It shows what percentage of Australia’s organisms thrive there. Most of the Fern and Butterfly Species inhabit that area.