Title: Australian Alps - Wikipedia
Headings: Australian Alps
Australian Alps
Contents
Geology
Ecology
Birds
Insects
Bushfires
Alpine huts
Attractions
Resort skiing areas
Panoramas
References
External links

Content: Formation of the Australian Alps was largely complete by around 100 million years ago, but during the past 90 million years, a number of minor uplift episodes have occurred, with occasional eruptions of basalt lava from small volcanoes, which has flowed across the landscape and down some of the valleys, filling in the low-lying areas to form the flat landscapes of these high plains. During the Pleistocene ice age, commencing around 2 million years ago, when ice caps formed on many high ranges around the world, as well as at the poles, small glaciers were formed on the very highest parts of the Australian Alps, mostly in the vicinity of Mount Kosciuszko. Whilst no glaciers remain today, evidence of their past presence can be found in the numerous tarns and cirques found in that region, such as Club Lake, Blue Lake, and Hedley Tarn. Ecology
The Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales
The Australian Alps are important for conservation, recreation, and as a water drainage basin, with much of their eastern slopes having its runoff diverted artificially into the Murray River and its tributary the Murrumbidgee River through the civil engineering project of the Snowy Mountains Scheme . They are protected by large national parks, in particular the Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales and the Alpine National Park in Victoria. These are managed cooperatively as Australian Alps National Parks by agencies of the Australian government and the state governments of this region. The Australian Alps also contain the only skiing areas of mainland Australia. Along with the town of Cabramurra, New South Wales, these are practically the only permanent settlements in the area. Several medium-sized towns can be found in the valleys below the foothills, such as Jindabyne, New South Wales, Corryong, Victoria, and Mount Beauty . The Australian Alps are not as high or as steep as the Alps of Europe, New Zealand's Southern Alps, or the Andes Mountains, and most of their peaks can be reached without using mountaineering equipment.