Geography of Sydney

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Sydney as viewed from Tasman Sea, overlooking the sandstone cliffs in Vaucluse
Satellite photo of the Sydney area

The geography of Sydney is characterised by its coastal location on a basin bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north and the Woronora Plateau to the south. Sydney lies on a submergent coastline on the east coast of New South Wales, where the ocean level has risen to flood deep river valleys (rias) carved in the Sydney sandstone. Port Jackson, better known as Sydney Harbour, is one such ria.[1]

The Sydney area lies on

soils are usually red and yellow in texture. The endemic flora is home to a variety of bird, insect, reptile and mammal species, which are conspicuous in urban areas.[5]

There are more than 70 harbour and ocean beaches in the urban area. Most of Sydney's water storages are on tributaries of the Nepean River. Parramatta River drains a large area of Sydney's western suburbs.[6] With 5,005,400 inhabitants (as of 2016) and an urban population density of 2037 people per square kilometre, Sydney's urban area covers 1,788 km2 (690 sq mi),[7] comprising 35% of Sydney and is constantly growing.[8]

Greater Sydney's boundaries stretch 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Palm Beach in the north to the Royal National Park in the south, and 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Bondi Beach in the east to the Blue Mountains in the west.

Geology

river valleys
known as rias.

The rising sea level between 6,000 and 18,000 years ago flooded the rias to form estuaries and deep harbours.

Sydney basin, dating back to when New Zealand started breaking away from Australia more than 85 million years ago.[10][11] To the east the basin continues to the edge of the continental shelf.[12] The centre of the basin is located around 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of the Sydney central business district at Fairfield.[13][14]

The sand that was to become the sandstone of today was washed from Broken Hill and laid down about 200 million years ago. The ripple marks from the ancient river that brought the grains of sand are distinctive and easily seen, telling geologists that the sand comes from rocks formed between 500 and 700 million years ago far to the south. This means that the highest part of the visible lines almost always faces approximately south.[15] There are volcanic rocks from low hills in the shale landscapes. The Basin's sedimentary rocks have been subject to uplift with gentle folding and minor faulting during the formation of the Great Dividing Range.[16]

Narrabeen Group of sedimentary rocks at Narrabeen
).

At a time in the past, monocline formed to the west of Sydney. The monocline is a sloping bend that raises the sandstone well above where it is expected to be seen, and this is why the whole of the visible top of the Blue Mountains is made of sandstone. Sandstone slopes in the Sydney area are on three sides: to the west the Blue Mountains, and to the north and south, the Hornsby and Woronora plateaux'.[17][18][19]

Being very

Wianamatta Shale group.[20] Mittagong Formation sighted in a few areas in northern Sydney.[25]

The

South Head peninsula in Watsons Bay,[28] was laid as sediment more than 200 million years ago in the Triassic period. During the Jurassic era, a cataclysmic event resulted in an enormous crack forming within the strata. The Gap itself forms a sequence that continues offshore to the edge of the Sahul Shelf.[29]

Sydney features two major soils;

podsols, grey and brown tenosols, lithosols, kandosols and kurosols)[30] which originate from the Hawkesbury sandstone and have low fertility, and clay soils (which are from shales and volcanic rocks), though some soils may be a mixture of the aforementioned soils (such as sandy clay loams and silty clay loam).[31][32][33][34]

Sydney has a number of

Clark Island, Snapper Island, Spectacle Island and Goat Island in Port Jackson. Bare Island in Botany Bay. Lion Island, Long Island and Milson Island in Hawkesbury River. Scotland Island in the Northern Beaches. And Rodd Island in Parramatta River.[35]

Rivers and creeks

View of Nepean River from just south of Penrith

Overall, Sydney has nine rivers and just over a hundred

Bents Basin, which is also a recreational area. Where the Nepean turns east it becomes the Hawkesbury River, which winds through the Hornsby Plateau before emptying into Broken Bay. Broken Bay and the lower Hawkesbury form the commonly accepted boundary between Sydney and the Central Coast to the north. The remaining section of Warragamba River flows 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) north-east from the Warragamba Dam spillway to its confluence with the Nepean River.[36]

Voyager Point

The south and southwest of Sydney is drained by the Georges River, flowing north from its source near Appin, towards Liverpool and then turning east towards Botany Bay. The other major tributary of Botany Bay is the Cooks River, running through the inner-south western suburbs of Canterbury and Tempe. The Georges River estuary separates the main part of Sydney's urban area from the Sutherland Shire. The Woronora River, on the southern edge of the Sydney Plain, flows in a steep-sided valley from the Woronora Dam to the eastern estuary of the Georges River. The Hacking River is further south and runs through The Royal National Park into Port Hacking which forms the southern boundary of the Sutherland Shire.

Parramatta River's headwaters are several local creeks including Toongabbie Creek and Hunts Creek, part of the upper Parramatta river catchment area. Duck River is the river's southern tributary. Hunt's creek flows from Lake Parramatta, a few kilometres North of Parramatta. At east Parramatta the river becomes a tidal estuary that flows into Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney harbour. Other major tributaries flow into Port Jackson from the North Shore and are the Lane Cove River and Middle Harbour Creek.

Minor waterways draining Sydney's western suburbs include

Upper North Shore to the Hawkesbury river.[37]

Ecology

Main article: Ecology of Sydney
autumn foliage, earning the region the nickname "The Leafy North Shore".[38]

The predominant

Northern Suburbs, Forest District, North Shore and in the Blue Mountains.[41]

Sclerophyll forests developed as a result of the extreme age of the

foliage with toxins. In eucalypts, these toxins give the bush its distinctive smell.[42] It has been calculated that around 98,000 hectares of native vegetation remains in the Sydney metropolitan area, about half of what is likely to have been existing at the time of European arrival.[43]

Bushfires semi-circling Sydney in a phenomenon known as "ring of fire".[44]

According to the

natural phenomenon that surrounds Sydney has been labelled "ring of fire".[47][48][49][50]

Fauna

The fauna of the Sydney area is diverse and its urban area is home to variety of bird and insect species, and also a few

magpie lark, noisy miner, pied currawong, silver gull and willie wagtail, among others. Introduced birds such as the house sparrow, common myna and feral pigeon are ubiquitous in the CBD areas of Sydney.[51][52]

Moreover,

city centers.[53]

Topography

The topography of the greater west is primarily grassy woodlands.

The extensive area covered by urban Sydney is formally divided into more than 650 suburbs for addressing and postal purposes, and administered as 38 local government areas. The City of Sydney itself covers a fairly small area comprising the central business district and its neighbouring inner-city suburbs. The 151st meridian east passes through the western suburbs of Granville and Revesby, among others. The suburbs to the west of those lie on the eastern end of the 150th meridian, which is a line that passes through the Russian city of Magadan in the Northern Hemisphere.[54]

The Sydney central business district (CBD) extends southwards for about 2 km (1.2 mi) from Sydney Cove, the point of the first European settlement. The west side is bounded by Darling Harbour, a popular tourist and nightlife precinct while Central station marks the southern end of the CBD. George Street serves as the Sydney CBD's main north–south thoroughfare.[55] The oldest parts of the city are located in the flat areas south of the harbour; the North Shore was slower to develop because of its hilly topography, and was mostly a quiet backwater until the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932, linking it to the rest of the city, with the suburbs surrounding the northern entrance to said bridge effectively developing North Sydney into a second central business district.[56]

clifftop

The Eastern Suburbs sit on the coast of Sydney. They contain iconic beaches such as Bondi Beach and Coogee Beach, and feature prominent seaside cliffs. The suburbs of Maroubra, Coogee and Bondi Junction lie on steep slopes, and would have an elevation of 90 metres (295 feet) at the highest peaks. These suburbs are located in generally close proximity to the city centre and are serviced by rail networks. The landscape in these areas is characterized by winding crescent-like streets with harbourside beaches and villages.

The

gullies. Major waterways in the region include the Parramatta River, Lane Cove River and the many creek systems that branch out from these. The region is home to many parks and nature reserves – The Lane Cove National Park and the Garigal National Park include many areas of remnant bushland adjacent to the Lane Cove River and Middle Harbour
.

Prospect reservoir
(looking west of Cumberland Plain towards Blue Mountains)

The Hills District, situated halfway between the northern suburbs and greater western Sydney, is a region so named for its characteristically comparatively hilly topography, akin to the Northern Suburbs and North Shore. Several of its suburbs have the word 'Hills' in their names. As the name indicates, the Hills District, depending on the suburb, is around 80 to 180 metres (260 to 590 ft) above sea level. As such, its elevation creates orographic rainfall brought in by onshore winds from the Pacific Ocean.[57]

The

countryside.[61]

The Blue Mountains (sometimes considered part of Greater Sydney) rise to the west of the western suburbs up to a height of 1,189 metres (3,901 ft), the highest point in the Sydney region.

Recreational areas

city skyline
.

The Sydney CBD contains prominent

Royal Botanic Gardens and Farm Cove on the harbour. Other parks in that vicinity include Wynyard and Hyde Park. The Royal Botanic Gardens is the most important green space in the Sydney region, hosting both scientific and leisure activities.[62] There are 15 separate parks under the administration of the City of Sydney.[63] The Royal National Park was proclaimed on 26 April 1879 and with 13,200 hectares (51 square miles) is the second oldest national park in the world.[64]

The largest park in the Sydney metropolitan region is Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, established in 1894 with an area of 15,400 hectares (59 square miles).

cave drawings, and middens have been located in the park.[66] The Domain is the oldest public parkland in Australia and measures 16.2 hectares (0.1 square miles) in area.[67] Its location was used for both relaxation and the grazing of animals from the earliest days of the colony.[68]

The inner west suburbs include

Bents Basin).[69]

Sydney has some of the finest and most famous beaches in the world. There are well over 100 beaches in the city, ranging in size from a few metres to several kilometres, located along the city's Pacific Ocean coastline and its harbours, bays and rivers. With around 70 surf beaches and dozens of harbour coves, Sydney is almost unrivalled in the world for the number and quality of beaches available.[70] The water and sand among the city beaches, despite their popularity, are remarkably clean.[71] The beach watch program was established in 1989 in response to community concern about the impact of sewage pollution on human health and the environment at Sydney's ocean beaches.[72]

Regions

Local government areas in Sydney
Main article: Regions of Sydney

There are a number of informal regional names describing large sections of the urban area. Not all suburbs are necessarily covered by any of the following informal regional categories.[73]

The regions are

Western Sydney
. The Blue Mountains are at times considered to be part of Sydney's metropolitan area.

The largest commercial centres outside of the CBD are

Hurstville in the south and Bondi Junction to the east. There has been accelerating commercial development in Parramatta since the 1950s as firms serving Western Sydney have set up regional offices and recognised the region's significant residential population mass and cheaper rents.[74]

Climate

Further information: Climate of Sydney
Thunderstorms and lightnings
occasionally occur in the warm months.

Sydney has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) with warm and sometimes hot summers, and winters shifting from mild to cool. Although Sydney is predominantly humid subtropical, the hilly wet areas in the North Shore, Northern Suburbs, Forest District and Hills District have an oceanic climate (Cfb).[75] The weather is moderated by proximity to the ocean, and more extreme temperatures are recorded in the inland western suburbs.[76]

The warmest month in the CBD is January, with an average air temperature range at Observatory Hill of 19.6–26.5 °C (67.3–79.7 °F). The coldest month is July, with an average range of 8.7–17.4 °C (47.7–63.3 °F). In the west, the temperatures average between 17.5 and 28.4 °C (63.5 and 83.1 °F) in summer. In winter, they're normally between 6.2 and 17.4 °C (43.2 and 63.3 °F). In late spring and summer, Sydney can sometimes get northwesterly winds from the Outback, which are dry and hot, making the temperatures reach above 40 °C (104.0 °F). Frost is oftentimes observed in the outer suburbs.[77]

Rainfall is spread throughout the year, but is slightly higher during the first half of the year when easterly winds dominate.[78] Sydney's coast generally receives around 1,000 mm (39.37 in) to 1,200 mm (47.24 in) of rain annually. The western suburbs receive around 800 mm (31.50 in) to 900 mm (35.43 in) of precipitation, since moist onshore winds do not penetrate inland. Australian east coast low brings large amounts of rain in late autumn and winter.[79]

See also

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Sources

External links

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