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The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the third longest land-based range in the world.〔The Great Dividing Range is the third longest mountain range of mountain ranges above sea level. Technically, the mid-ocean ridge is the longest of the world's mountain ranges.〕 The range stretches more than from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through New South Wales, then into Victoria and turning west, before finally fading into the central plain at the Grampians in western Victoria. The width of the range varies from about to over .〔Shaw, John H., ''Collins Australian Encyclopedia'', William Collins Pty Ltd., Sydney, 1984, ISBN 0-00-217315-8〕 The sharp rise between the coastal lowlands and the eastern uplands has affected Australia's climate, mainly due to orographic precipitation, and these areas of highest relief have revealed an impressive gorge country. ==Terminology== The Dividing Range does not consist of a single mountain range. It consists of a complex of mountain ranges, plateaus, upland areas and escarpments with an ancient and complex geological history. The physiographic division name for the landmass is called the ''East Australian Cordillera''. In some places the terrain is relatively flat, consisting of very low hills.〔 Typically the highlands range from 300 m to 1,600 m in height.〔 The mountains and plateaus, which consist of limestones, sandstone, quartzite, schists and dolomite, have been created by faulting and folding processes. The crest of the range is defined by the watershed or boundary between the drainage basins of rivers which drain directly eastward into the Pacific Ocean, or southward into Bass Strait, and those rivers which drain into the Murray–Darling river system towards the west and south. In the north, the rivers on the west side of the range drain towards the Gulf of Carpentaria. The higher and more rugged parts of the "range" do not necessarily form part of the crest of the range, but may be branches and offshoots from it. The term "Great Dividing Range" may refer specifically to the watershed crest of the range, or to the entire upland complex including all of the hills and mountains between the east coast of Australia and the central plains and lowlands. At some places it can be up to 400 km wide.〔 Notable ranges and other features which form part of the range complex have their own distinctive names. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Great Dividing Range」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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