Amazing World Heritage Sites of Australia Quiz

Answer: Sea-floor spreading

Macquarie Island lies about halfway between Australia and Antarctica and 1,500 km to the south-east of Tasmania. The rocks exposed from the earth's mantle include pillow basalts and help support the notion that the sea-floor is spreading. The island is the exposed crest of the Macquarie Ridge. It is the only island in the world composed completely of oceanic crust and the aforementioned rocks.

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Answer: Bungle Bungle Range

Bungle is a synonym of mess up. The Bungle Bungle Range is a unique geological feature made up of beehive-shaped towers and cones. They are formed from Devonian-age quartz sandstone. Purnululu National Park is located in the state of Western Australia. It is believed the site may be the remains of a very ancient meteorite impact crater.

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Answer: Glaciation

The Tasmanian Wilderness has many steep gorges that were formed during a period of glaciation. Glaciers carved out the gorges over millions of years. It is one of the last expanses of temperate rainforest anywhere in the world. Remains found in caves in the area show humans have been in the area as far back as 20,000 years.

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Answer: Volcanic activity

The Lord Howe Island Group was formed by volcanic activity from volcanoes that lie some 6000 ft below sea level. They are a perfect example of isolated oceanic islands that are home to many endemic species, particularly birds. The islands are administered by New South Wales and lie about 700 km from Sydney.

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Answer: Eucalypt

Koalas live almost entirely on a diet of eucalypt leaves. The Greater Blue Mountains area is covered by a temperate eucalypt forest. The area is located in New South Wales, inland from Sydney. There are 91 species of eucalypt in the area according to the UNESCO website of which twelve only appear here and nowhere else.

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Answer: The Sumatran tiger

The Sumatran tiger does not belong in this list, the other three are found in the Shark Bay region. Shark Bay was made a World Heritage Site because of its unique physical geography which includes vast sea-grass beds, a thriving dugong population, and stromatolites. Stromatolites are colonies of algae that form dome shaped deposits and are some of the oldest forms of life on earth.

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Answer: Yosemite

The Gondwana Rainforests are extremely important from a conservation point of view and they represent the most extensive area of subtropical rainforest in the world. Located on the eastern coast of Australia, the area boasts a wide variety of flora and fauna that is of scientific and conservational significance. They were named after one of two theoretical supercontinents, Gondwana and Laurasia, because fossil records indicate their makeup is the same as that of Gondwana, 510 million years ago.

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Answer: Largest sand island

Fraser Island is made of sand, and, amazingly, has been able to sustain rainforest growths. One photo gives it the appearance of a green, patchy quilt wrapped over a sandy foundation. The island is a tree house for birds: over 230 species have been recorded here. However, many other life forms are sparse: fish struggle with the nearby water lacking the qualities of life they need, and few mammals reside here. The one exception is its population of dingoes, which used to thrive on the island but are ever decreasing in numbers. They are considered to be some of the last 'pure' dingoes in Eastern Australia. Despite these facets, Fraser Island is a beautiful and impressive phenomenon of nature.

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Answer: Being volcanically active Sub-Antarctic islands

The islands are said to 'open a window into the earth', as we can observe how volcanic and glaciation dynamics work together in this very rare situation. The islands are pristine and lack alien species of life. Big Ben, a dominant volcano of the Heard Island, erupted in 1992, creating spectacular cloud formations.

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Answer: Whale Sharks

Around 300-500 whale sharks, slow-moving filter-feeding sharks found in tropical waters, are said to come here to mate. The karst system is made up of underwater caves, lakes and water courses due to the dissolution of rock: this is interesting to study in terms of its unique flora and fauna.

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