Australian Island & Tectonic plate sizes

GEOGRAPHIC EXTREMES SOCIETY

 

AUSTRALIAN RECORDS

Islands and Tectonic Plates

The definition of an island, according to most dictionary’s, refers to a parcel of dry land surrounded by water but smaller than a continent. They further define continents as enormous tracts of land larger than Islands. To avoid these arbitrary definitions, I have avoided the concept of continents altogether and ranked everything as Islands

Islands

Using this criterion, the mega-landmass that is Africa/Europe/Asia would certainly rank as the world’s largest island. The conjoined twins of South and North America would come in as second largest, Antarctica as third, and Australia would come in just under the medal-tally as the fourth largest island in the world. So, the claim that Australia is the world’s largest island is a relative misnomer we have been living with for generations.

Largest Islands in the World

1         Afro-Eurasia    84,980,532 km2

2         Americas         42,549,000 km2

3         Antarctica        14,200,000 km2

4         Australia          7,595,342 km2

If we were to consider the Islands of Australia. Tasmania would be the largest, ranking 26th in size on the planet. The largest Australian Island that isn’t a separate state is Melville Island, ranking 103rd on a worldwide scale.

Largest Islands In Australia greater than 1,000 km2

  1. Tasmania                    60,637 km2
  2. Melville Island             5,786 km2
  3. Kangaroo Island          4,416 km2
  4. Groote Eylandt            2,285 km2
  5. Bathurst Island            1,693 km2
  6. Fraser Island                1,653 km2
  7. Flinders Island             1,359 km2
  8. King Island                    1,091 km2
  9. Mornington Island      1,002 km2

Largest Islands in each State and Territory

 

New South Wales – Lord Howe Island 14.6 km2

Northern Territory – Melville Island 5,786 km2

Overseas territories – Heard Island 386 km2

Queensland – Fraser Island 1,653 km2

South Australia – Kangaroo Island 4,416 km2

Tasmania – Flinders Island 1,359 km2

Victoria – French Island 170 km2

Western Australia – Dirk Hartog Island 620 km2

Number of islands in each Australian state

Western Australia has almost 50% of Australia’s Islands, the vast majority in the north, stretching from Cape Leveque to the Northern Territory Border. The table below also includes Island within river systems

STATE and TERRITORY ISLAND NUMBERS

  1. Western Australia          3747
  2. Queensland                     1955
  3. Tasmania                         1000
  4. Northern Territory         887
  5. South Australia                346
  6. Victoria                              184
  7. New South Wales            102

A new system of measurement to determine the boundaries of Earth’s regions is by using the geological notion of tectonic plates.

Tectonic plates are sections of the Earth’s crust which extend for approximately one hundred kilometres below the Earth’s surface in a zone called the lithosphere. The plates ride on a sea of molten liquid which sees them jostling in an ultra-slow waltz across the surface of the planet. The boundaries of tectonic plates aren’t always accurately defined, with the vast majority of these boundaries below sea level. In the end, it matters little what parts project above or below the waterline – it is all floating around on the same tectonic raft, upon a sea of molten magma below.

Sizes of Earth’s major tectonic plates

  1. Pacific Plate –                       103,300,000 km2
  2. North American Plate –       75,900,000 km2
  3. Eurasian Plate –                    67,800,000 km2
  4. African Plate –                       61,300,000 km2
  5. Antarctic Plate –                    60,900,000 km2
  6. Australian Plate –                  47,000,000 km2
  7. South American Plate –       43,600,000 km2
  8. Somali Plate –                        16,700,000 km2
  9. Nazca Plate –                          15,600,000 km2
  10. Indian Plate –                         11,900,000 km2

The Geographic Extremes Society welcomes any input as to the veracity of these records and we encourage everyone to contribute to these extreme records by contacting us to initiate the discussion