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The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south-east of Melbourne, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geographically, the peninsula begins its protrusion from the mainland in the area between Pearcedale and Frankston. The area was originally home to the ''Mayone-bulluk'' and ''Boonwurrung-Balluk'' clans and formed part of the Boonwurrung nation's territory prior to European settlement. Much of the peninsula has been cleared for agriculture and settlements. However, small areas of the native ecology remain in the peninsula's south and west, some of which is protected by the Mornington Peninsula National Park. In 2002, around 180,000 people lived on the peninsula and in nearby areas, most in the small towns on its western shorelines which are sometimes regarded as outlying suburbs of greater Melbourne; there is a seasonal population of around 270,000. The peninsula is primarily a local tourist region, with popular natural attractions such as the variety of beaches both sheltered and open-sea and many scenic sights and views. Other popular attractions include the various wineries, mazes and the diverse array of water sports made available by the diversity of beaches and calm waters of Port Phillip and Western Port. Most visitors to the peninsula are residents of Melbourne who camp, rent villas and share houses or stay in private beach houses. It is known simply as "The Peninsula" to locals and Melburnians alike, giving rise to the expression "going down the peninsula". ==Geography== The peninsula extends from the mainland between Pearcedale and Frankston in a south-westerly direction for about at a width of about . It then begins to extend roughly in an west/north-westerly direction and tapers down to a width of about before terminating at Point Nepean. Much of the topography is flat in the north where it connects to the mainland, however moving south-west, it soon becomes hilly, culminating in the central hilly landscapes of Boneo, Main Ridge, Red Hill Tuerong and Moorooduc. The highest point, Arthurs Seat, located unusually close to the shoreline, stands at above sea level. The peninsula hosts around of coastline. Its eastern shorelines meet many mangroves and mudflats in the waters of Western Port before it tapers down to form Crib Point, Stony Point and Sandy Point at the peninsula's most south-easterly point. In the south-east between Sandy Point and West Head, the mudflats give way to sandy beaches which in turn become more and more rocky further south. In the south the peninsula meets Bass Strait and the coastline becomes very rocky between West Head and Cape Schanck. The coast between Cape Schanck and Point Nepean consists of a long slow curvature of open-sea surf beaches, many too dangerous to swim in. Its western shorelines form various headlands and bays in the sheltered waters of Port Phillip, hosting many shallow safe beaches. The western coastline facing Port Phillip starts at the narrow bay entrance, The Heads or The Rip, and proceeds as a series of gently curved bays defined by small rocky outcrops. From an oceanic perspective, the Mornington Peninsula, together with the Bellarine Peninsula, separate the waters of Port Phillip from Bass Strait, except for a small gap known as The Rip, which also separates both peninsulas. The peninsula also separates the waters of Port Phillip and Western Port. The Mornington Peninsula is crossed by many seismically active fault lines, monoclines, synclines and anticlines; the largest of which is the 100 km long Selwyn Fault which is capable of producing earthquakes of around 7.5 magnitude. The Peninsula experiences many minor earthquakes every year, but most are too small to be felt. The last strong earthquake to rock the Peninsula had a magnitude of 5.0 and occurred on 7 July 1971 at 7:55am AEST with its epicentre off Flinders, along the southern end of the Tyabb Fault. 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「Mornington Peninsula」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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