Throughout the history of the world’s changes has impacted the way continents including Australia look. The Great Australian Bight is the cliff that runs on the southern coast of Australia that gives Australia its unique shape. Limestone. Australia has been through many changes throughout the history of time, partly due to tectonic plate activity; Australia was first connected into a super continent called Gondwanaland which consists of contents, Africa, South America, India and Antarctica. As billions of years past the tectonic plates moved these continents away from each other, although it took a longer period of time to break up Antarctica and Australia.
During the late Jurassic period a rift valley began to form between Australia and Antarctica, this valley formed the edge and outline of the Great Australia Bight. The rift valley (a valley formed by downward movement of a block of the earth’s surface) was caused by the result of sea floors spreading of the Bight Basin (a basin is a dip in the Earth’s surface formed by forces above the ground, like erosion, or below the ground, like earthquakes), spreading from east to west. Unlike other continental drifts this one was thought to consist of very little or no magma which classifies it as a non-volcanic breakup. The breakup of Antarctica and Australia would have taken approximately 100 million years. The great ocean road follows along this landscape, so everyone can enjoy its amazing views of the edge of the continent. The great ocean road follows along this landscape, so everyone can enjoy its amazing views of the edge of the continent. |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Australian_Bight - 5/08/14
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Australian_Bight
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