Dear edi49-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question. I bet you thought someone was just going to tell you the
answer and let it go didn’t you? Not so. This actually happens to be
one of those fairly complicated “chicken vs. the egg” type questions
but I’ll try to make it as interesting and painless as possible.
If there “must” be a specific moment in time when this revelation
occurred, it all began on July 18, 1801 when CAPTAIN MATTHEW FLINDERS,
under the direction of Governor PHILLIP GIDLEY KING (1758-1808)
(Governor of N.S.W. 1800-1806), circumnavigated what is now known as
the Australian continent in a bold effort to ascertain this very
question once and for all aboard HMS Investigator. At the time popular
opinion held that a sea or a strait running from the Gulf of
Carpentaria into the Southern Ocean split the country into at least
two smaller islands known then as the islands of New South Wales and
New Holland. Governor King commissioned Flinders to explore the
boundaries of the nation until he could return with a solid and final
answer.
Flinders did explore until March of 1803 and in August 1804 he first
wrote his findings to his patron and President of the Royal Society,
Sir Joseph Banks (from his prison cell – but that’s another story,
isn’t it?). He immediately began promoting the name “Australia” for
what he had proved to be a continent and not immense islands to be
called New South Wales and New Holland. In a similar letter to
Governor King, Flinders makes this official commentary:
“It is necessary, however, to geographical precision, that so soon as
New Holland and New South Wales were known to be one land, there
should be a general name applicable to the whole…Had I permitted
myself any innovation on the original term, it would be to convert it
into Australia; as being more agreeable to the ear, and as an
assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the earth.”
SWEERS ISLAND AND THE NAMING OF AUSTRALIA
http://www.burkeshirecouncil.com/sweers_island.htm
Banks resisted the alternative name “Terra Australis” suggested by
Flinders and hated the name Australia even worse, so, needless to say
it didn’t stick right away, thus the findings were not immediately
published for some time either. In 1813 Banks finally relented and
(probably against his better wishes) agreed to adopt the name “Terra
Australis”. The record of the exploration and discovery (and the
adoption of the new name) were officially published for the entire
world to see on July 18, 1814, exactly twelve years to the day after
the voyage began, and it came in the form of a book entitled “A Voyage
to Terra Australia” – I sense a name change coming don’t you? The very
next day, Captain Matthew Flinders, who had once sailed with Captain
William Bligh himself (of “Mutiny on The Bounty” fame), died at the
ripe old age of 40. Official printed recognition of the name
‘Australia’ was not authorized until 1830 when the publication “The
Australia Directory” went to press in England. – Apparently the King
of England wasn’t too keen in the name “Terra Australis” either, so he
trumped the name and opted for “Australia” instead. After holding up
the publication for more than 9 years over a childish disagreement
about potential names, I’ll bet smoke wafted up out of his grave when
word of the name changed reach the cemetery where Sir Joseph Banks was
buried by then, don’t you?
Anyway, let’s get on with it…Now, all that was an interesting history
lesson wasn’t it? Keeping these facts in mind but turning the clock
forward to today, SCIENTIFCALLY speaking, Australia was never ‘DEEMED”
to be an island or a continent (and still hasn’t been). The fact is,
early exploration merely suggests that, using certain criteria,
Australia most closely fits the example of a continent and than it
does an island. The age-old debate about continent v. island with
regard to Australia is nothing new, but what is new (or newer than
what we knew in 1802 at least) is the scientific technology we now
have at our disposal which suggests an even more plausible explanation
as to why Australia should be considered a continent rather than an
island. Applying a few common sense rules for example, we know now
that Australia has unique flora and fauna, unique cultures not found
elsewhere on earth, and (this is the biggie) it has independent
tectonic plates, meaning that it doesn’t share a single original crust
with any other land mass, above or below the sea.
Greenland, you see, is geologically part of North America. This
immediately discounts Greenland as a continent of its own and was
never in dispute. What is interesting however is that scientifically
speaking, Madagascar and a few other islands also fit these criteria
but presumably because of their size and close proximity to a much
larger and dominant land mass they are not classified as continents,
but islands. To add even more confusion, Europe, which is not an
island at all, nor does it have unique features or independent
tectonic plates is readily recognized as a continent. If there were
enough inhabitants for public opinion to make a difference undoubtedly
Antarctica would fit the bill and the most massive island on earth
because everything about it is unique and independent.
So, to summarize, here are the four characteristics by which we
determine a land mass to be a continent:
Areas of geologically stable continental crust, or cratons,
tectonically independent from other continents
Biological distinctiveness, with unique animal and plant life
Cultural uniqueness
Local opinion that the land mass is actually a separate continent
With those in mind, the answer to your question is (if we are to
assume there must be an answer):
In 1802 Governor Phillip Gidley King first became aware of the fact
that Australia was an undivided land mass following receipt of the
tentative logs from the exploration of Captain Matthew Flinders. The
findings were officially made public on July 18, 1814.
You can read most if not all the actual logs and manuscripts at the
MATTHEW FLINDERS ELECTRONIC ARCHIVE found here:
http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/flinders/archive.html
If you are open to the notion that it’s still anyone’s guess (which I
personally tend to disbelieve), then the answer is:
From a geological standpoint, Australia has never been officially
scientifically proven beyond a doubt to be a continent as opposed to
an island or visa versa. Except as determined by the characteristics I
mentioned, which tend to lose credibility when they are not
universally applied in making the same distinctions and determination
of other similarly questionable land masses, Australia is a officially
country, obviously as island and widely accepted as a continent.
Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any
questions about my research please post a clarification request prior
to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final
comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near
future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
CONTINENT VS. ISLAND
http://users.erols.com/jcalder/CONTISLAND.html
SWEERS ISLAND AND THE NAMING OF AUSTRALIA
http://www.burkeshirecouncil.com/sweers_island.htm
TREASURES EXPLORATION
http://www.nla.gov.au/worldtreasures/html/theme-exploration-5-flinders.html
WILIPEDIA – MATTHEW FLINDERS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Flinders
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
MATTHEW FLINDERS
GOVERNOR KING AUSTRALIA
AUSTRALIA CONTINENT ISLAND
AUSTRALIA GEOLOGICAL FACTS |
