What is the name of the mountain range in the South Island?

What is the name of the mountain range in the South Island?

the Southern Alps
Named summits over 2,900 m All summits over 2,900 metres (9,500 ft) are within the Southern Alps, a chain that forms the backbone of the South Island, and all but one (Mount Aspiring) are within a 10-mile (16 km) radius of Aoraki / Mount Cook.

What separates the North and South Island?

Cook Strait
Cook Strait is the strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand. It connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast, and runs next to the capital city, Wellington.

What is the largest mountain range in the South Island called?

Southern Alps
Southern Alps

Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana
Snow highlights the mountain range in this satellite image
Highest point
Peak Aoraki / Mount Cook
Elevation 3,724 m (12,218 ft)

What are the main physical features of the South Island and North Island of New Zealand?

The North Island of New Zealand has a ‘spine’ of mountain ranges running through the middle, with gentle rolling farmland on both sides. The central North Island is dominated by the Volcanic Plateau, an active volcanic and thermal area. The massive Southern Alps form the backbone of the South Island.

How many mountains are in the South Island?

The South Island also has: 24 named peaks over 3,000 metres high. more than 3,000 glaciers or permanent snow patches. many lakes of glacial origin (including seven of the 10 largest lakes in the country)

What is the distance between North Island and South Island?

So what connects the North and South Islands? Nothing, but the Cook Strait separates them. At the narrowest point, there is a distance of 22km (13.67 miles).

What continent does New Zealand lie on?

Oceania
New Zealand/Continent

More About Oceania It includes the continent of Australia and 13 other countries—Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Kiribati, Micronesia, Tonga, Marshall Islands, Palau, Tuvalu, and Nauru. It lies between Asia and the Americas and has Australia as its major landmass.

How old are New Zealand’s mountains?

New Zealand’s oldest rocks are over 500 million years old, and were once part of Gondwanaland.

How many mountains are in the North Island?

The North Island has only three mountains over 2,000 metres, all of which are volcanoes: Mt Ruapehu (2,797 metres), at the centre of the island – the highest peak and the only one with glaciers. The classic volcanic cone of Mt Ngāuruhoe (2,287 metres), just north of Mt Ruapehu.

What is the mountain range in New Zealand called?

Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana, mountain range on South Island, New Zealand. It is the highest range in Australasia.

What is the difference between the north and South Island?

Island has some beautiful sandy beaches, while the coastline around the rest of the South Island tends to be wilder and more rugged. Mountain Range to Fertile Farmland About a fifth of the North Island and two-thirds of the South Island are mountains.

What are the physical features of the South Island?

The South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres (58,084 sq mi), making it the world’s 12th-largest island. At low altitude, it has an oceanic climate. The South Island is shaped by the Southern Alps which run along it from north to south. They include New Zealand’s highest peak, Aoraki / Mount Cook at 3,724 metres (12,218 ft).

What is the highest mountain in the North Island?

North Island’s highest non-volcanic peak (1,754 metres), Mount Hikurangi is regarded as sacred by the Ngati Porou Māori of the region, who believe the mountain to be the resting place of Maui’s waka (canoe). Mount Hikurangi can be found in the north-east corner of New Zealand’s North Island, …

What is the meaning of South Island in New Zealand?

European, Māori. The South Island (Māori: Te Waipounamu) is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area; the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, and to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean.