| Nelson Commonwealth Marine Reserve | |
|---|---|
IUCN category VI (protected area with sustainable use of natural resources) | |
| Map showing the Nelson Commonwealth Marine Reserve | |
| Location | Indian Ocean, Australia |
| Nearest town | Port Macdonnell, South Australia |
| Coordinates | 39°19′S139°51′E / 39.31°S 139.85°E Coordinates: 39°19′S139°51′E / 39.31°S 139.85°E [1] |
| Area | 6,123 km2 (2,364 sq mi) |
| Established | August 31, 2007 |
| Governing body | Parks Australia (Commonwealth of Australia) |
| environment | |
Nelson Commonwealth Marine Reserve is a 6,123 km2 marine protected area within Australian waters located in the Southern Ocean [2] near the South Australia-Victoria border. The reserve was established in 2007 [3] and is part of the South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network.
Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or large lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conservation purpose, typically to protect natural or cultural resources. Such marine resources are protected by local, state, territorial, native, regional, national, or international authorities and differ substantially among and between nations. This variation includes different limitations on development, fishing practices, fishing seasons and catch limits, moorings and bans on removing or disrupting marine life. In some situations, MPAs also provide revenue for countries, potentially equal to the income that they would have if they were to grant companies permissions to fish.
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The population of 25 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean or the Austral Ocean, and the "Southern Icy Ocean".</ref> comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. As such, it is regarded as the fourth largest of the five principal oceanic divisions: smaller than the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans but larger than the Arctic Ocean. This oceanic zone is where cold, northward flowing waters from the Antarctic mix with warmer subantarctic waters.
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The reserve spans deepwater ecosystems (below 3,000 m (9,800 ft)) and encloses geological features including plateaus, knolls, canyons and the abyssal plain. It is an important migration area for humpback, blue, fin and possibly sei whales. [4]
In geology and physical geography, a plateau, also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain, that is raised significantly above the surrounding area, often with one or more sides with steep slopes. Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma, extrusion of lava, and erosion by water and glaciers. Plateaus are classified according to their surrounding environment as intermontane, piedmont, or continental.
A hillock or knoll is a small hill, usually separated from a larger group of hills such as a range. Hillocks are similar in their distribution and size to small mesas or buttes. The term is largely a British one. This particular formation occurs often in Great Britain and China. A similar type of landform in the Scandinavian countries goes by the name ”kulle” or ”bakke” and is contrary to the above phenomena formed when glaciers polish down hard, crystalline bedrock of gneiss or granites, leaving a rounded rocky hillock with sparse vegetation.
A canyon or gorge is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic timescales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cut through underlying surfaces, eventually wearing away rock layers as sediments are removed downstream. A river bed will gradually reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water into which the river drains. The processes of weathering and erosion will form canyons when the river's headwaters and estuary are at significantly different elevations, particularly through regions where softer rock layers are intermingled with harder layers more resistant to weathering.
