Geological structure, minerals and climate of Oceania


The geological structure of the islands of Oceania and their origin are closely related to the structure of the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. In the west of the Pacific, the Pacific and Indo-Australian plates converge, forming uplifts. In the places of their collision, earthquakes and volcanism are observed. Most of the islands of Oceania by origin – volcanic or coral. Some of the coral islands were formed on the tops of submarine ridges, New Zealand, Tasmania, New Guinea – the mainland. Since the islands of Oceania are different in origin, their surface is quite diverse. On the continental and volcanic islands there are lowlands and low mountains, the surface of coral islands is flat.

The minerals on the mainland islands are similar to those found in Australia. So, about. New Caledonia is rich in deposits of nickel and cobalt ores, Fr. Nauru – phosphorite, the islands of Fiji – gold.

The climate of the islands of Oceania is marine. The climatic features of the islands located in the equatorial, subequatorial and tropical climatic zones are barely noticeable. Exceptions are only the islands of New Zealand, located in the subtropical and temperate zones. Oksan moistens the territories of the subequatorial and tropical belts, reduces the temperature of the air, so the overall climate of Oceania is warm, with a slight difference in daily temperatures, favorable for living. Adverse climatic phenomena include tropical cyclones – typhoons. They destroy buildings, break down trees, waves blow to the ocean the results of many years of people’s work.


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Geological structure, minerals and climate of Oceania