Features of Macquarie Island: geographical location, nature and climate

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

There are several hundred islands in the vicinity of Australia. Macquarie is one of them. The island is considered uninhabited, it is inhabited only by penguins and fur seals. Read about the features of Macquarie Island further in the article.

Location of the island

Macquarie is a small, elongated piece of land in the Pacific Ocean. In its shape, it resembles a rectangular piece of fabric. It is 34 kilometers long and only 5 kilometers wide. The area of Macquarie Island is 128 square kilometers. The highest point above sea level reaches 420 meters.

Administratively, Macquarie belongs to the island of Tasmania, although it is located about 1,500 kilometers from it. The island is located between Tasmania and Antarctica. About 30 kilometers from Macquarie Island there are two groups of small islands: Judge and Clerk, Bishop and Clerk. The Bishop and Clerk archipelago is part of an underwater volcanic ridge and territorially belongs to the Commonwe alth of Australia. Australia's southernmost point is also located here.

Millions of years ago, the collision of the Pacific and Indo-Australian lithospheric plates contributed to the formationunderwater ridge, the surface part of which is Macquarie. The island is a real storehouse for geologists, because ophiolites are located on it. It is also the only place in the ocean where the mantle rocks protrude above the water level. Thanks to its unique geological structure, Macquarie has been protected by UNESCO since 1997.

History

Scientists suggest that the first inhabitants of the island could be Polynesians in the XIII-XIV centuries. However, there is no direct confirmation of this, therefore, Europeans are still considered the first discoverers of the Australian Macquarie Island. He, unexpectedly for himself, was discovered in 1810 by Frederick Hasselborough, who went in search of seal habitats. Having discovered an uninhabited island, the British navigator designated it as the territory of South Wales and named it after the Welsh governor Laknel Macquarie.

In 1820, the Arctic navigator Thaddeus Bellingshausen (discoverer of Antarctica) created the first map of Macquarie Island. Determining the exact location of the newly discovered land attracted penguin and seal hunters here. After that, the number of animals was reduced to a critical point.

In 1890 the island was transferred to Tasmania and leased by John Hatch for industrial purposes. In 1911, the island became the base for an Australian research expedition led by Douglas Mawson. Macquarie later became a Tasmanian sanctuary and received state status in 1972.

The island is mentioned in the book Travel andwanderings in distant seas”, published in 1912. The author of the book is John Thompson. As a result of a shipwreck, he ended up on Macquarie and stayed there for about 4 months. According to legend, Thompson sailed to the island for hidden treasures.

Climate and relief

Climatic conditions of Macquarie Island did not allow the British in the 19th century to establish a permanent settlement on it. The surrounding seas make the climate on the island quite harsh. It is characterized as humid subantarctic. Winds (often hurricanes), fogs and rains dominate here. About 1000 mm of precipitation falls annually.

Severe cloud cover prevents light from breaking through. The number of hours of sunshine per year is 856, the smallest number among the islands belongs only to the Faroe Islands. The average plus temperature in July is about 4.9 degrees, and the temperature in November is 6.5 degrees.

The coastline is smooth in the east and slightly indented with coves and bays in the west. The coast of the island is rocky, and reefs are hidden under water. Macquarie is formed by two plateaus on the south and north sides, which are connected by an isthmus of the plain. The plateaus are located at an altitude of about 100-200 meters above sea level. Mounts Elder, Fletcher and Hamilton are the highest points.

Inhabitants and photos of Macquarie Island

The harsh climate and considerable remoteness from the mainland made the island unfavorable for human life. Currently, the permanent population of the island is zero people. The exception is ANARE employees who live here temporarily.

Re althe inhabitants of the island are penguins. There are about 80,000 of them on Macquarie. The fauna of Macquarie Island is represented by endemic cormorants and subantarctic fur seals. More than three million seabirds are represented by 13 different species.

The vegetation of Macquarie Island is similar to that of southern New Zealand. It is mainly low-growing grass and lichens. Tree species are completely absent, but marshy species are actively growing.

Human influence

Every year the number of places untouched by man is getting smaller. This Australian island did its best to protect its possessions with the help of harsh natural conditions. However, the man made it here.

People who arrived on the island brought rats, rabbits and cats to it, which led to a real disaster. Animals began to eat the unique local vegetation, reducing it by almost half. Which, in turn, led to soil erosion and landslides. Cats killed about 60,000 birds a year.

In 2012, the imported animals were almost removed from the island. It turned out to be the most difficult thing to eradicate rabbits, several individuals are periodically found and still are.