NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Nullarbor Plain

For the roadhouse along the Eyre Highway, see Nullarbor, South Australia A roadhouse is a theatre building that does not house a producing company of its own, but instead rents its facility to production companies. ... Nullarbor is a small town and roadhouse along the Eyre Highway in South Australia. ...

The Nullarbor Plain is the vast area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country immediately north of the Great Australian Bight. The word Nullarbor is derived from the Latin nullus for 'nothing' or 'no one' and arbor for 'tree', and is pronounced "NULL-uh-bore" (IPA: /ˈnʌləbɔr/). The Aboriginal name for the area is 'Oondiri' meaning 'the waterless'. It is the world's largest single piece of limestone, and occupies an area of about 200,000 km² (77,200 sq miles). At its widest point, it stretches about 1,200 km from east to west between South Australia (SA) and Western Australia (WA). Download high resolution version (5800x4400, 2978 KB) Credit Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC http://visibleearth. ... Download high resolution version (5800x4400, 2978 KB) Credit Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC http://visibleearth. ... The Great Australian Bight is a large bight, or open bay, encompassing an area of the Southern Ocean located off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... Australian Aborigines are the indigenous peoples of Australia. ... For other uses, see Limestone (disambiguation). ... Capital Adelaide Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Premier Mike Rann (ALP) Federal representation - House seats 11 - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05) - Product ($m) $59,819 (5th) - Product per capita $38,838/person (7th) Population (End of September 2006) - Population 1,558,200 (5th) - Density 1. ... Slogan or Nickname: Wildflower State or the Golden State Other Australian states and territories Capital Perth Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Ken Michael Premier Alan Carpenter (ALP) Federal representation - House seats 15 - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05) - Product ($m) $100,900 (4th) - Product per capita $50,355/person...

History

Historically, the Nullarbor was inhabited by the semi-nomadic Spinifex Wangai Aboriginal people. The average rainfall on the Nullarbor Plain is about 200 mm per year. The vast and harsh Nullarbor plain, as seen from space. ... Wangai, Wongai or Wankai is the name given by themselves to the 26 Aboriginal groups of the Goldfields of Western Australia. ...

European settlers were determined to cross the plain, despite the hardships created by the nature of the Nullarbor. Although Edward John Eyre described the Plain as "a hideous anomaly, a blot on the face of Nature, the sort of place one gets into in bad dreams", he became the first European to successfully make the crossing in 1841. Edward John Eyre (5 August 1815 - 30 November 1901) was an English land explorer of the Australian continent and a controversial Governor of Jamaica. ...

Eyre set out from Fowler's Bay in South Australia on 17 November 1840 with John Baxter and a party of three Aboriginal men. He was forced to return to Fowlers Bay by the death of three horses due to dehydration, and made a second departure on 25 February 1841. Capital Adelaide Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Premier Mike Rann (ALP) Federal representation - House seats 11 - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05) - Product ($m) $59,819 (5th) - Product per capita $38,838/person (7th) Population (End of September 2006) - Population 1,558,200 (5th) - Density 1. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... John Baxter (–29 April 1841) was a friend and companion of Edward John Eyre on his crossing of the Nullarbor Plain in 1840-1841. ... Dehydration (hypohydration) is the removal of water (hydro in ancient Greek) from an object. ... is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1841 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

By 29 April, the party had reached Caiguna. Lack of supplies and water led to a mutiny, and two of the Aborigines killed Baxter and made off with the party's supplies. Eyre and the third Aborigine, Wylie, continued on their journey, surviving through bushcraft and some fortuitous circumstances such as receiving some supplies from a French whaling vessel anchored at Rossiter. They completed their crossing in June 1841. is the 119th day of the year (120th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... John Eyre Motel, Caiguna Caiguna is located on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia, some 1090 km east of Perth. ... Mutiny is the act of conspiring to disobey an order that a group of similarly-situated individuals (typically members of the military; or the crew of any ship, even if they are civilians) are legally obliged to obey. ... Wylie was the Aboriginal companion who travelled with Edward John Eyre across the Nullarbor Plain in 1840-1841. ... 1841 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

A proposed new state Auralia (meaning "land of gold") would have comprised of the Goldfields, the western portion of the Nullarbor Plains and the port town of Esperance. Its capital would have been Kalgoorlie. Map showing the proposed boundaries of Auralia Auralia was a proposed state that would have been formed out of the south eastern portion of the colony of Western Australia in the early twentieth century [1], and would have joined the newly-formed Commonwealth of Australia. ... Kalgoorlie may refer to the following geographically related places: Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, a city and council in Western Australia; Division of Kalgoorlie, a federal division of the Australian House of Representatives located around the geographical area; Electoral district of Kalgoorlie, an electoral district of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. ...

The Spinifex were forced to abandon their homelands when the British began nuclear testing at Maralinga in the 1950s. Since then they have been awarded compensation and many have returned to the general area. In fact, many never left. Due to their isolation it was impossible to warn them all about the testing. Preparation for an underground nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site in the 1980s. ... Maralinga, South Australia in the remote western areas of South Australia was the home of the Maralinga Tjarutja, a southern Pitjantjatjara Indigenous Australian people. ... the first thing that was invented was the automatic DILDO. Education grew explosively because of a very strong demand for high school and college education. ...

Cultural significance

'Crossing the Nullarbor', for many Australians, is a seminal experience of the 'Australian Outback'. Stickers bought from roadhouses on the highway show 'I have crossed the Nullarbor', and can be seen on vehicles of dubious quality or capacity for long distance travel. The process of 'beating the crowds' on overbooked air services at the time of special sporting events can also see significant numbers of vehicles on the road. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 121 KB) Summary Photo taken and supplied by Brian Voon Yee Yap. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 121 KB) Summary Photo taken and supplied by Brian Voon Yee Yap. ... For the restaurant chain, see Outback Steakhouse; for the station wagon, see Subaru Outback. ...

Crossings in the 1950s and earlier were significant as most of the road back then was unmade dirt track. Round-Australia car trials (The Redex Trials) utilised the Nullarbor crossing for good photo shoots of cars negotiating poor tracks.

The collections of truck and car wrecks, usually away from the stopping places but within sight, are a testimony to the hazardous nature of the crossing for many, and folklore and fact can be unravelled to illustrate the hazards of long distance driving without adequate rest, and some truck drivers who 'lose it' somewhere on the plain. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ...

With the sealing of the road, increasing numbers of so-called 'Grey Nomads' (retirees with large caravans) in groups of four or more became commonplace on the highway. The route has also become popular with cyclists, although extreme caution is advised due to the need to share the relatively narrow road with multi-trailer road trains up to 40m long. A tanker road train Three road trains, Western Australia A road train is a trucking concept used in remote areas of Australia, the United States, and Western Canada to move bulky loads efficiently. ...

The presence of inter-state long haul bus travel in the late twentieth century increased the number of people experiencing the Nullarbor. As early as 1985 the economics of the bus services on the Nullarbor had been an issue with the companies, who would try to cut on costs to stay in business. Cheap air-fares and rising fuel costs caused the major bus company running the service to withdraw the main Perth to Adelaide service in 2005.

The role of the police station at Eucla as a 'gateway' for law enforcement cannot be underestimated. Newspaper reports were common in the 1980s and 1990s of people evading the law in Western Australia and attempting to leave the state by travelling by car across the Nullarbor but being apprehended at Eucla. Road Sign Eucla is the easternmost town in Western Australia, and is the largest settlement on the Nullarbor Plain. ...

Geography

The Nullarbor Plain is thought to be a former seabed. About 20-25 million years ago, the whole area was uplifted by crustal movements, and since then, erosion by wind and rain has smoothed out most topographic features, resulting in the extremely flat terrain across the plain today. The plain is a series of tiers. Each tier is flat and was formed when the sea level was much higher than it is today. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 135 KB) Summary Photo taken and supplied by Brian Voon Yee Yap. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 135 KB) Summary Photo taken and supplied by Brian Voon Yee Yap. ... The seabed (also sea floor, seafloor, or ocean floor) is the bottom of the ocean. ... For morphological image processing operations, see Erosion (morphology). ... For discussion of land surfaces themselves, see Terrain. ...

The southern ocean, in areas, blows through many subterranean caves resulting in blow holes up to several hundred metres from the coast. One such area open for public inspection are the Murrawijinie Caves, in South Australia. Most other caves can only be visited and viewed with Department of Environment and Conservation approval. The Department of Environment and Conservation is a department of the Government of Western Australia that is responsible for implementing the states conservation and environment policies. ...

Vegetation in the area is primarily low saltbush and bluebush scrub. A large part of the Nullarbor Plain is now a National Park. The Nullarbor is known for extensive meteorite deposits, which are extremely well-preserved in the arid climate. In particular, many meteorites have been discovered around Mundrabilla, some up to several tonnes in weight. Willamette Meteorite A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives an impact with the Earths surface without being destroyed. ... Mundrabilla Roadhouse Mundrabilla is located on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia, some 1360 km east of Perth. ... A tonne or metric ton (symbol t), sometimes referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. ...

According to the USDA, the Nullarbor's soils are considered to be mainly Aridisols. (see map) The U.S. Department of Agriculture, also called the Agriculture Department, or USDA, is a Cabinet department of the United States Federal Government. ... Aridisols are a soil order in USA soil taxonomy. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Global_soil_regions. ...

Climate

The prevailing climate across the Nullarbor is typical of a desert, characterised by extremely arid conditions, with maximum daytime temperatures of up to 48.5 °C (119.3 °F), although nights can see freezing conditions. The mean annual rainfall at Cook is 179.7 mm (7 inches) [1]. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 152 KB) Summary Photo taken and supplied by Brian Voon Yee Yap. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 152 KB) Summary Photo taken and supplied by Brian Voon Yee Yap. ... A disused building in Cook The Indian Pacific at Cook Cook (30Â°36â€²S 130Â°24â€²E) is a railway station and crossing loop on the standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway from Adelaide to Perth, with no inhabited places around. ...

Transport

The need for a communications link across the continent was the spur for the development of an east-west crossing. Once Eyre had proved that a link between South Australia and Western Australia was possible, efforts to connect them via telegraph began. In 1877, after two years of labour, the first messages were sent down the new telegraph line, boosted by a series of eight repeater stations along the way. The line operated for about 50 years before being superseded; relics of it are still visible. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (816x616, 126 KB) Summary The w:Nullabor plain as viewed from the w:Indian Pacific. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (816x616, 126 KB) Summary The w:Nullabor plain as viewed from the w:Indian Pacific. ... Fresh from the launch of the new Indian Pacific livery on 24th September, NR 28 hauls the Indian Pacific out of Perth (through Maylands) on Wednesday, 28th September 2005. ... Telegraph and Telegram redirect here. ... A repeater is an electronic device that receives a weak or low-level signal and retransmits it at a higher level or higher power, so that the signal can cover longer distances without degradation. ...

The Trans-Australian Railway railway line crosses the Nullarbor Plain from Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta. Construction of the line began in 1917, when two teams set out from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and Port Augusta in South Australia, meeting in the centre of the Plain at Ooldea, an uninhabited area noted for a water supply. This original line suffered severe problems with track flexing and settling in the desert sands, and journeys across the Plain were slow and arduous. The line was entirely rebuilt in 1969, as part of a project to standardise the previously disparate rail gauges in the various states, and the first crossing of the Nullarbor on the new line reached Perth on 27 February 1970. The Indian Pacific is a regular passenger train crossing the Nullarbor from Perth to Sydney via Adelaide Looking east on the Trans-Australia Railway from Cook, South Australia The Trans-Australian Railway crosses the Nullarbor Plain from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and contains the longest straight stretch of track in the world. ... Kalgoorlie is a Western Australian city located about 600 km east of Perth. ... Port Augusta (32°29′ S 137°46′ E, population 15,250) is a town in South Australia. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... Ooldea (30Â°27â€²S 131Â°50â€²E) is a tiny settlement in South Australia. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... The dominant rail gauge in each country shown Rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the two parallel rails that make up a railway track. ... is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Fresh from the launch of the new Indian Pacific livery on 24th September, NR 28 hauls the Indian Pacific out of Perth (through Maylands) on Wednesday, 28th September 2005. ... Location of Perth within Australia This article is about the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia. ... This article is about the metropolitan area in Australia. ... For other uses, see Adelaide (disambiguation). ...

The Eyre Highway, which connects Norseman in Western Australia to Port Augusta, was carved across the continent in 1941. At first it was little more than a rough track, but was gradually paved over the next thirty years. The last unsealed section of the Eyre Highway was finally paved in 1976. Unlike the railway, though, it crosses the plain at its southernmost edge rather than through the centre. Only a small portion of the highway is actually in the Nullarbor. Named for Edward John Eyre the Eyre Highway is a highway linking Western Australia and South Australia. ... Norseman is located 726 km east of Perth and 278 m above sea level, it is the last major town in Western Australia before heading east across the Nullarbor Plain. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The railway line holds the record for the longest straight section of railway in the world (478 km), while the road contains the longest straight piece of tarred road surface in Australia (146.6 km).

Most of the inhabited areas of the Nullarbor Plain can be found in a series of small settlements located along the railway line, and in small settlements along the Eyre Highway that provide services to travellers, mostly spaced between one and two hundred kilometres apart. The town of Cook, in South Australia, was formerly a moderately thriving settlement of about 40 people, with a school and a golf course. However, the scaling back of railway operations at the town resulted in its virtual desertion, and it now has a permanent population of just two. A disused building in Cook The Indian Pacific at Cook Cook (30Â°36â€²S 130Â°24â€²E) is a railway station and crossing loop on the standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway from Adelaide to Perth, with no inhabited places around. ... Capital Adelaide Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Premier Mike Rann (ALP) Federal representation - House seats 11 - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05) - Product ($m) $59,819 (5th) - Product per capita $38,838/person (7th) Population (End of September 2006) - Population 1,558,200 (5th) - Density 1. ...

Biogeography

Nullarbor is a biogeographic region under the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA).^[1]^[2] Image File history File links Size of this preview: 764 Ã— 599 pixels Full resolution (1257 Ã— 986 pixel, file size: 83 KB, MIME type: image/png) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Nullarbor Plain ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 764 Ã— 599 pixels Full resolution (1257 Ã— 986 pixel, file size: 83 KB, MIME type: image/png) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Nullarbor Plain ... Biogeography is the science which deals with patterns of species distribution and the processes that result in such patterns. ... The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) is a biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian Governments Department of the Environment and Heritage. ...

Contents

History

Cultural significance

Geography

Climate

Transport

Biogeography

See also

References

External links