Is the USA the most geographically diverse country in the world? (map of, coastal)

[jfbatemanz]

Chile is one of the most diverse countries in the world but not on the same level of the US and china. In south america only Argentina is more diverse

[jfbatemanz]

Originally Posted by Mhc1985

Hawaii, on the other side, ranges from 180 to more than 5000 mm

That's the most remarcable thing about hawaii. nowhere else in the world can you find such a diverse range of rainfall. However the driest spot on hawaii "near the summit of mauna kea on the big island" is 204 mm not 180 mm, while the wettest spot "big bog on maui island" is 10.270 mm.
As for countries the biggest ranges of precipitations are:

1. India: 83 mm to 11.871 mm
2. Colombia 150 mm to 11.770 mm
3. USA 60 mm to 10.270 mm.

Rainfall Atlas of Hawaii | Interactive Map

[Mhc1985]

Originally Posted by jfbatemanz

Hawaii may be the most diverse island on the planet, but I wouldn't say "almost as diverse as Colombia" there are a few states and even a county in Colombia that are smaller than hawaii and have the same diversity "and maybe even more".

It was a joke, after all the fuss about Colombia.

Originally Posted by jfbatemanz

That's the most remarcable thing about hawaii. nowhere else in the world can you find such a diverse range of rainfall. However the driest spot on hawaii "near the summit of mauna kea on the big island" is 204 mm not 180 mm, while the wettest spot "big bog on maui island" is 10.270 mm.
As for countries the biggest ranges of precipitations are:

1. India: 83 mm to 11.871 mm
2. Colombia 150 mm to 11.770 mm
3. USA 60 mm to 10.270 mm.

Rainfall Atlas of Hawaii | Interactive Map

I intended to bring up approximate figures.
I checked the rainfall from here. It says 187 mm, albeit the period of records is short. Whatever, depending on the period used, it may vary a bit; not really important in the context of this discussion.

However, I don’t think range of precipitation make a good bar for geographic and climatic diversity, as influence of precipitation on the environment decreases in a rather exponential way. For instance, two places with averages of 100 and 1100 mm respectively make much different environments than two places with averages of 4000 and 5000 mm, even though in both cases the difference between places is 1000 mm.

In case of looking for precipitation extremes anyway, though, it’s always particularly difficult to agree on the wettest points, as they are often localized; measurements, if they exist, may come from secondary networks with dubious quality, and in many cases taken during a very short span.

[shirleyeve]

Top 3 with the most diversity:

1. USA



2. China



3. Australia

[jfbatemanz]

Originally Posted by shirleyeve

Top 3 with the most diversity:

1. USA



2. China



3. Australia

I agree with the first two "the map of china is incomplete as it does not shows all the climates the country has".
As for Australia, the map is also wrong. The country has EF Climate on Heard island and the map didnt show it, also australia does not have any sort of continental climate.
Having said that, climatic diversity is not the only factor "its one of the most important ones" to determine how diverse a country is. But even if it was, there are other countries, bersides the US and china, that have the same or more types of climates than australia.

[jfbatemanz]

Here are the countries that on climates may be the most diverse after the US and china
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...RG_present.svg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...ND_present.svg

[shirleyeve]

For a single country, the sheer size and diversity of Australia is amazing.

[Mhc1985]

Köppen climate classification may be a questionable way to determine climate diversity, as different climate types cover different ranges of climates. For instance Cxc and in a lesser extent Dxc can be stuck in very narrow strips between Cxb, Dxb, ET and even BSk climates, and they may come up in mountain areas where multiple types flourish within very small areas without them representing a truly massive diversity of environments.

On the other hand, the B climates are oversimplified into a four pieces cake and each part often covers very dissimilar climates (the following text, for instance, mentions three unrelated BSk climates, such as Chos Malal, La Quiaca and Río Gallegos).

It’s also frequent the occurrence of small isolated spots of certain climate type that marginally manages to exist in an area, adding up a climate type, without representing any of the actual variability this climate type can achieve.

Anyway, if briefly explained, Köppen may provide a quick outlook onto the variety and boundaries inside a territory. It’s common to find out that some types may exist but lack any known stations that confirm them. Sometimes it’s easy to deduce either the presence or absence of a climate type; sometimes it can be inconclusive as long as new measurements weren’t taken.

The following extract counts every Köppen climate type and mention and analyses their presence in Argentina. It follows Beck et al (BXh/BXk boundary in 18°C for the average temperature, C/D boundary in 0°C for the coldest month, etc.). The map is a bit flawed, but whatever...







Af – Absent. Northeastern Formosa gets less than 60 mm in their driest months; nowhere in Misiones province is the coldest month warmer than 16.5°C.

Am – Very likely to be found in northeastern Formosa province, in the border with Paraguay, but no station known with this climate type in the country.

Aw – Unlikely to occur; indicated in some maps for a small spot in Northeastern Salta province, probably after extrapolated data. The closest station to the spot, Santa Victoria Este, falls short in both temperature (by 0.6°C) and precipitation (by 85 mm). It’s not totally impossible, though, for the required thresholds to be reached nearby.

BSh – Common in lowlands of Northwestern Argentina, i.e. La Rioja.

BWh – Found in some basins of Northwestern Argentina, west of BSh areas, i.e. Tinogasta. They are usually close to the BWk types, with no places where average temperature surpasses 20°C.

BSk – Found throughout Western and Southern Argentina, surrounding the BWk type, i.e. La Quiaca and Río Gallegos.

BWk – Widespread in Western and Southern Argentina, i.e Neuquén.

Cfa – Widespread in the northeast quarter of the country, i.e. Buenos Aires.

Cfb – Mostly present in Buenos Aires province, where it develops as an oceanization of the Eastern subtropical climates once the continent shrinks towards the south, i.e. Mar del Plata.

Cfc – Present in Tierra del Fuego (such as Ushuaia City -borderline in the airport-) and maybe various isolated spots in mainland Patagonia and Mendoza province.

Cwa – Found in two main areas located in Central Argentina (i.e. Córdoba) and the lowlands of the northwest next to the Andes (i.e. Tucumán).

Cwb – Contiguous to Cwa but in higher elevations towards the west (i.e. Salta).

Cwc – Found in small patches in the Eastern slopes of the Northwest Andes and the highlands of San Luis and Córdoba mountains, such as Pampa de Achala, above 2200 m.

Csa – Possibly absent. Borderline in the old BSk station of Chos Malal. There is a small possibility for this climate to marginally exist in some valleys of northwestern Neuquén province and the extreme south of Mendoza province, in forms very close to the BSk and Csb triple point.

Csb – Typical from the Andean region from Mendoza to Santa Cruz provinces, i.e. Bariloche.

Csc – Expected to be found in a slim altitudinal strip, just above the Csb climates and below Dsc/ET climates, as long as annual ranges are low, which is fairly common in Patagonia, especially in mountain slopes. For instance, between Bariloche (830 m) and Cerro Catedral station (1950 m). No station known to have this climate in the country; it exists in the frontier town of Balmaceda, Chile. Possible in Mendoza province, although bigger annual ranges make the altitudinal transition Csb > Dsb > Dsc more likely.

Dfa – Absent, far from occurring.

Dfb – It may exist in small mountain spots in Mendoza province, just west of the highly unusual Cfb Valle de Uco, where mountains quickly rise to above 4000 m.

Dfc – Found in Tierra del Fuego (i.e. Río Grande) and maybe various isolated spots in mainland Patagonia and Mendoza province. In all cases, it’s a marginal appearance far from the stereotypical form of this climate, being very close to the Cfc, Csc and BSk types.

Dwa – Absent, far from occurring.

Dwb – Very unlikely to exist around the Cwb/Cwc/Dwc pockets of high eastern slopes of the Northwest.

Dwc – Possible in small pockets in the highlands of Córdoba Mountains and the Northwest Andes, especially in the Eastern slopes of Aconquija and Ambato Mountains. For instance, west of the Cwb station Potrero del Clavillo, where Aconquija Mountains rise to above 5000 m.

Dsa – Absent, far from occurring.

Dsb – Found in mountainous pockets of Western Mendoza and Neuquén provinces, i.e. Las Leñas. Likely present in Western San Juan province and maybe south of Neuquén.

Dsc – Found in the Andes from San Juan to Santa Cruz provinces, i.e. Valle de los Patos. It usually occupies the highlands of the Mediterranean pattern region of the country, below the ET line.

Dsd, Dfd, Dwd – Absent, far from occurring.

ET – Widespread in high altitude regions across the country, i.e. Cristo Redentor. It reaches sea level in Tierra del Fuego, i.e. Tolhuin (not coastal).

EF – Widespread in the mountain tops throughout the Andes. Aconcagua summit, at 6960 m, is estimated to average -14/-15°C in the warmest month.

[jfbatemanz]

Let’s not forget that a country’s diversity is not based solely on climate “a factor that is one of the most important ones” but as I said before, there are other factors, some just as important as climate.

I have made a list to include some countries “most in america” to show their holdridge life zones. This is based on the info I found on oficial sites or Works done on the subject.
In the case of the US, the list is lacking the state of Alaska, I asume the sate has boreal and subpolar lifezones but I don’t know exactly which ones. Surprisingly on the 50 states of the US there is one tropical lifezone “tropical dry forest” its not on Hawaii but in Florida.

Regarding the technical aspect, I don’t know if the studies used different parameters to obtain their results, or if there are local conditions that allow certain lifezones to exist in latitudes where they shouldn’t. For example Florida has a tropical biome, yet countries and territories further south like Puerto rico, cuba, the dominican republic, the virgin island only have subtropical biomes.

From what I have seen tropical and subtropical biomes extends further away from the equator in central america and the caribbean than in south america.

In the case of central america,and the caribbean, panamá “07°11'N to 09°38'N”
and costa rica “08°04'N to 11º13'N” are the only countries whose territories are completely tropical; further north Nicaragua “10°43'N to 15°01'N has six tropical and six subtropical biomes.
Of the countries located on the northern part of central america, The territory of El salvador “13°42'N to 14°26'N” is 4,7% tropical and 95,3% subtropical, Guatemala “13°44'N to 17°49'N” is also mostly subtropical with a few tropical biomes “I could not find info of Honduras and Belize” Finally all the countries and territories of the caribbean “Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Dominican Republic, the Virgin islans” are completely subtropical as they are located further north than central america.

That is why I dont know why Florida has one tropical biome for its north of the islands.
I couldnt find reliable info on Mexico, but I suppose it does have subtropical and warm biomes

In the case of South America, Ecuador “05°00'S to 01°40'N” is the only completely tropical country “unless we include the guyanas and suriname.

Both Colombia “04°14'S to 12°27'N” and Venezuela “00°40'N to 12º11'N” are mostly tropical but do have subtropical biomes on their northmost territories.
Further south Peru “18°21'S to 00°01'S” and Bolivia “22°54'S to 09°40'S” have tropical, subtropical and warm lifezones.
Paraguay “27°43'S to 19°17'S” only has warm biomes
In the case of argentina “55°04'S to 21°48'S” It has Tropical, subtropical, warm, cool and boreal biomes “like florida, I don’t know why it has tropical biomes, although only from the premontane altitude level as it lacks sealevel tropical biomes

















The countries and territories on the list are: the US, Guatemala, Colombia, Argentina, Australia, Puerto Rico

Tropical desert Colombia
Tropical deser scrub Colombia
Tropical thorn Woodland Colombia AUS
Tropical Very dry forest Colombia AUS
Tropical Dry forest Guatemala Colombia USA (FL) AUS
Tropical moist forest Colombia AUS
Tropical wet forest Guatemala Colombia
Tropical rain forest Colombia

Tropical pre montane desert Colombia
Tropical pre montane desert scrub Colombia
Tropical pre montane thorn Woodland Colombia
Tropical pre montane dry forest Colombia ARG
Tropical pre montane moist forest Colombia ARG
Tropical pre montane wet forest Colombia
Tropical pre montane Rain forest Colombia

tropical lower montane desert ARG
Tropical lower montane desert scrub ARG
tropical lower montane steppe Colombia ARG
tropical lower montane dry forest ARG
tropical lower montane moist forest Colombia ARG
tropical lower montane wet forest Colombia ARG
tropical lower montane rain forest Colombia

tropical montane desert ARG
tropical montane desert scrub Colombia ARG
tropical montande steppe ARG
tropical montane moist forest Colombia ARG
tropical montane wet forest Colombia ARG
tropical montane rain forest Colombia

tropical subalpine desert ARG
tropical subalpine dry scrub ARG
tropical subalpine moist forest ARG
tropical subalpine wet forest Colombia ARG
tropical subalpine rain forest Colombia

tropical alpine dry tundra ARG
tropical alpine moist tundra ARG
tropical alpine wet tundra ARG
tropical alpine rain tundra Colombia ARG

tropical Ice cap Colombia ARG









Subtropical desert AUS
Subtropical desert scrub Colombia USA (HW) AUS ARG
Subtropical thorn Woodland Guatemala Colombia USA (HW) AUS ARG
Subtropical dry forest Guatemala USA (HW) PR AUS ARG
Subtropical moist forest Guatemala USA (HW) PR AUS ARG
Subtropical wet forest Guatemala USA (HW) PR AUS ARG
Subtropical Rain forest Guatemala USA (HW) PR

Subtropical lower montane desert ARG
Subtropical lower montane desert scrub ARG
Subtropical lower montane steppe USA (HW) ARG
Subtropical lower montane dry forest USA (HW) ARG
Subtropical lower montane moist forest Guatemala USA (HW) ARG
Subtropical lower montane wet forest Guatemala USA (HW) PR ARG
Subtropical lower montane rain forest Guatemala USA (HW) PR

Subtropical montane desert ARG
Subtropical montane desert scrub ARG
Subtropical montande steppe USA (HW) ARG
Subtropical montane moist forest Guatemala USA (HW) ARG
Subtropical montane wet forest USA (HW)
Subtropical montane rain forest

Subtropical subalpine desert
Subtropical subalpine dry scrub ARG
Subtropical subalpine moist forest USA (HW) ARG
Sub tropical subalpine wet forest USA (HW) ARG
Subtropical subalpine rain forest

Subtropical alpine dry tundra
Subtropical alpine moist tundra ARG
Subtropical alpine wet tundra ARG
Subtropical alpine rain tundra ARG

Subtropical Ice cap ARG











Warm desert USA
Warm desert scrub USA AUS ARG
Warm steppe USA AUS. ARG
Warm dry forest USA AUS. ARG
Warm moist forest USA AUS. ARG
Warm wet forest USA
Warm rain forest

Warm montane desert USA ARG
Warm montane desert scrub USA ARG
Warm montande steppe USA ARG
Warm montane moist forest USA ARG
Warm montane wet forest USA ARG
Warm montane rain forest USA

Warm subalpine desert
Warm subalpine dry scrub USA ARG
Warm subalpine moist forest USA ARG
Warm subalpine wet forest USA ARG
Warm subalpine rain forest USA ARG

Warm alpine dry tundra
Warm alpine moist tundra USA
Warm alpine wet tundra USA ARG
Warm alpine rain tundra USA ARG

Warm Ice cap USA




Cool desert USA ARG
Cool desert scrub USA ARG
Cool steppe USA AUS ARG
Cool moist forest USA AUS ARG
Cool wet forest USA AUS ARG
Cool rain forest USA

Cool subalpine desert
Cool subalpine dry scrub USA ARG
Cool subalpine moist forest USA AUS ARG
Cool subalpine wet forest USA ARG
Cool subalpine rain forest USA ARG

Cool alpine dry tundra
Cool alpine moist tundra
Cool alpine wet tundra USA ARG
Cool alpine rain tundra USA ARG

Cool ice cap ARG



Boreal desert
Boreal dry scrub
Boreal moist forest ARG
Boreal wet forest ARG
Boreal rain forest USA

Boreal alpine dry tundra
Boreal alpine moist tundra
Boreal Alpine wet tundra
Boreal alpine rain tundra ARG

Boreal ice cap



Subpolar dry tundra
Subpolar moist tundra
Subpolar wet tundra
Subpolar rain tundra

Subpolar icecap

Polar icecap


http://www.nalsite.com/Servicios/Map...pa.asp?id=1211
http://documentacion.ideam.gov.co/op.../Capitulo5.pdf
https://epa-prgs.ornl.gov/radionucli..._LifeZones.pdf
http://128.171.35.76/climatemodel/HE...escription.pdf
http://rdd.undav.edu.ar/pdfs/pr114/pr114.pdf
https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/rp/rp_itf018.pdf
https://books.google.com.co/books?id...lvador&f=false

[jfbatemanz]

Leaving aside chauvinistic opinions of “my country is better than yours or more beautiful” people should stick to the “technical” aspects of what makes a country “diverse”.

However even the systems used to determine certain aspects of the geography of a country are not perfect. Koppen for instance, I believe, falls short on the Tropical and dry climates. There are a few modified models that have expanded the tropical climates and now make the distinction between “Tropical” and equatorial

I guess you have to take into consideration these parameters.

1. Distance from the northmost to the southmost point of a country: Because the longest a country is, the more latitudinal climatic and vegetation types it has.
2. Rainfall: What countries have a wide range of precipitation that allows them to go from deserts to rain forest, “no matter if they are hot, warm or cold”
3. Topography diversity: What countries have high mountains but also wide plains. In the case of mountains, the higher they are, the more altitudinal climates and vegetation types it has
4. Coastal features. What type of vegetation grows on the coastline? Does the country have a coastline in one or two oceans? Etc etc etc.


Regarding the first parameter, these are 20 longest countries, taking in consideration only the mainland.


4,331 km Brazil
4,065 km Russia
4,042 km Chile
3,700 km China
3,398 km Argentina
3,335 km Canada
3,159 km Australia
2,796 km India
2,695 km United States
2,086 km D. R. Congo
2,062 km Myanmar
2,043 km Peru
2,019 km Mexico
1,983 km Algeria
1,858 km Colombia
1,811 km Mozambique
1,778 km Chad
1,749 km Saudi Arabia
1,679 km Morocco
1,651 km Thailand

A few observations regarding that list.

I didn’t include Greenland because I don’t know if it should be classified as part of Denmark or as a single country.

If we add Alaska to the sum of the total length of the US, then it would increase by 2.200 km “Alaska is almost as long as the 48 states”, Hawaii would add Another 500 km, making the US the longest country in the world with 5.400 km. Canada would be the second longest country taking into account all the territory.

European countries such as the Netherlands, France, the UK, have territories all over the world, because most of them are small islands they don’t add much to the total length of the mainland, but they do give more diversity although not much since those territories have one or two types of climates at most due to their small size.

Japan is not on the list because the country is composed of several islands, however the length of the whole nation is 2700 km




The second parameter, these are the countries that have both deserts “be them BWH or BWK on koppen” and also áreas with large ammount of rainfall.

Usa “Has both cold and hot deserts”
Canada
Mexico “Has both cold and hot deserts”
Venezuela
Colombia
Ecuador
Peru “has both hot and cold deserts”
Bolivia
Chile “has both hot and cold deserts”
Argentina “has both hot and cold deserts”
Australia “has both hot and cold deserts”
China
India “has both hot and cold deserts”
Kenya





Regarding topographic variations, here is the list of 24 countries with the highest mountains “Above 5000 mts”

1 Nepal/China. 8848
3 Pakistan 8611
4 India 8586
5 Buthan 7570
6 Tajikistan 7495
7 Afghanistan 7492
8 Kyrgyzstan 7439
9 Kazakhstan 7010
10 Argentina 6960
11 Chile 6893
12 Perú 6788
13 Bolivia 6542
14 Ecuador 6267
15 Usa 6190
16 Canadá 5959
17 Tanzania 5892
18 Myanmar 5880
19 Colombia 5775
20 México 5636
21 Irán 5600
22 Georgia 5201
23 Kenya 5200
24 Congo/Uganda 5109.


Of this list, no country can compare to the countries of central asia and the indian subcontinent “regarding only mountain área not on how diverse is their topograpgy”. They are the only nations with peaks above 7000 mts, with nepal, China, Pakistan and India hosting all the peaks above 8000 mts.

Among those countries , Buthan (average altitude 2.220 mts, 98% mountain área), Tajikistan (average altitude 3.200 mts, 92% mountain área), Afghanistan (average altitude1885 mts, 80% mountain área), Kyrgyzstan (average altitude 2.988 mts, 90% mountain área) don’t have a stark contrast as most of their terrotory is exclusively montainous. Nepal would be included on the list (average height 3.265 mts) But a small portion of its territory is located in the gangetic plains.

The other countries (china, India and Pakistán) do offer a big variety of landscapes besides mountains.

After them comes the south american countries. On this the andes can’t compete with the himalayas on height, but it offers a more variety on latitudinal climates and vegetation because its the longest mountain range on earth.

As for contrast, its my personal opinión that no where else in the world will you find such differences on landscapes in a single landmass, especially in Peru, where you have three distinct regions (coast, mountains, jungle) with the andes (the only country with both tropical and dry andes) serving as a Wall between the amazon jungle and the coastal desert (the second driest desert in the world after antartica dry valleys). One stark contrast in the peruvian andes is the difference between the dry andes (where the altiplano is located) and the tropical northern andes. Only Peru, argentina and chile have territories on two of the three andean regions (Argentina and chile have both dry andes and the southern wet andes)

Ecuador has a similar landscape (coast, andes, jungle) but less dramatic (the andes are higher in peru and the coast of ecuador is nowhere near as dry).

Colombia is different because althought the andes also cross the country from the southwest to the north east, it breaks in three separate ranges that form interandean valleys. The lands it separates are mostly similar in the south (the coastal jungle of the pacific and the amazon), but north of the amazon, unlike peru and ecuador, the lands east of the andes are wide Savannahs.
Also North of the andes has a very diverse Caribbean región, that is mostly Savannah but also has a desert (not as dry as the pacific desert of Peru and chile) and a mountain range independent of the andes that is the highest coastal mountain in the world.

Bolivia is kind of a mix, it has two very distinct regions “the dry andes” and the Eastern lowlands. Like Colombia it has both Jungle and Savannah on the east, and the andes are as very similar “Altitude, climate” to those found in soutern and central peru.

Chile is mostly a mountainous country with a very thin coastline, but its lenght gives it a wide variety of mountain landscapes.

Argentina is almost as long as chile, both having the highest peaks of the andes, but it does offer a Sharp contrast between the andean regions and the east.
Along with peru, I believe its the other south american country that offers more contrast in its territory, the difference being that argentina is 1400 km longer.



After Asia and South America the highest mountains are located in North America. The US, Canada and mexico do have a great topographic diversity.

Mexico is a curious case. It has more mountain área (85% of the territory) than most of the south american nations (with the exception of chile) it has an average altitude of 1110 mts, higher than most south american countries except Peru, chile and Bolivia, and yet it only has 3 mountains higher than 5000 mts, all located within the 19th paralel in the transvolcanic belt.
To make a comparassion, Colombia and ecuador are the countries where the andes are at their lowest and have less peaks above 5000 mts compared to their neighboors “Except for Venezuela”, yet ecuador has 21 “2 of them above 6000 mts”, while Colombia has 34 peaks above 5000 mts.

Taking this into consideration, Mexico does have a good contrast between the mountain área and the lowlands, but not as stark as those found in south america or asia. However its a long country that almost half its territory is located north and south the tropics, giving it a wide variety of mountainous landscapes.


The Us offers a very Sharp contrast between east and west. Like Mexico it only has 5 peaks above 5000 mts “one above 6000 mts”, all of them in Alaska. However due to it size it offers a whole variety of both mountain landscapes and lowlands, its, after all the longest country in the world “taking into consideration hawaii and especially Alaska.


Finally for the coastal features, these aere to countries that have coasts in more than one ocean

Canada: Atlantic, pacific, Artic
Russia :Atlantic (black sea), Pacific, Artic
Usa: Atlantic, Pacific, Artic
Mexico: Atlantic, pacific
Guatemala: Atlantic, Pacific
Honduras: Atlantic, Pacific
Nicaragua: Atlantic, Pacific
Costarica: Atlantic, pacific
Panama: Atlantic, Pacific
Colombia: Atlantic, Pacific
Argentina: Atlantic, south ocean
Chile: pacific, south ocean
Egypt: Atlantic “mediterranean”, Indic “red sea”
Israel Atlantic “mediterranean” indic “red sea”
South africa: Atlantic, Indic
Australia: Pacific, Indian
Norway: Atlantic, Artic
Malaysia: pacific, Indian
Thailand: pacific, Indian
Indonesia: pacific, Indian
France: Atlantic, Pacific “external territories” indian “external territories”
Uk: Atlantic, Pacific “external territories”, Indian “external territories”.


I believe the US and Australia are two countries with more diverse types of landscapes “Poeople often forget that Australia has the Heard islands”, with the Us lacking coastal deserts, and Australia lacking Mountainous landscapes