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Macquarie Island, now a World Heritage Reserve, is part of Tasmania's territory almost 1500 kilometres southeast of Hobart, and lies just outside of the antarctic convergence (54.5 deg. S, 159 deg. E), where cold water from the southern ocean meets warmer northern waters. Located in a geologically active region notorious for earthquakes, the Island rose about 600,000 years ago, very young geologically speaking, and is a piece of deep ocean crust which was thrust above sea level by massive continental plate activity. It's quite small, 34 kilometres long, 5.5 kilometres wide and up to 433 metres above sea level and is rising at a rate of about 0.5mm per year, but being in the path of the "Furious Fifties", it experiences cool, wet, windy conditions and considerable variation in summer and winter daylight hours. Air temperatures vary only 4 - 4.5 degrees centigrade from mid winter to mid summer. It receives about 1050 mm of precipitation per annum which falls on more than 320 days of the year! |
| Poa foliosa |
Stilbocarpa polaris |
Colobanthus muscoides - showing seed |
| The island was discovered in 1810
when its natural resources were intensively exploited by seekers of abundant
animal fur and oil until well into the 1920's. Tragically, the original
populations of the fur seal were exterminated within 5 years of its discovery.
The introduction of vermin such as rats, cats and rabbits had disastrous
effects on the biota. Today the island itself is classed as a Tasmanian
Nature Reserve with Tasmanian park management and Tasmanian Rangers but
the research station on a narrow isthmus at the northern end is maintained
and run by the Commonwealth Antarctic Division and is a successful example
of Commonwealth-State co-operation. |
Ranunculus crassipes |
Cardamine corymbosa |
Luzula crinita |
Aceana magellanica |