AUSTRALIAN ALPS

mountain mass, a segment of the Great Dividing Range (Eastern Uplands), occupying the southeasternmost corner of Australia, in eastern Victoria and southeastern New South Wales. In a more local sense, the term denotes the ranges on the states' border forming the divide between the watersheds of the Murray River system, flowing west, and the Snowy and other streams flowing southeastward directly to the Pacific. The name Alps is applied there not because of special structural features but for the general characteristics of massiveness and of being snow-clad for five to six months each year. The mountains are the highest on the continent, reaching 7,310 feet (2,228 m) at Kosciusko; yet the loftiest peaks are rather unremarkable prominences set upon a broad, gently undulating highland surface. The timberline lies at 5,000 feet (1,500 m). Because of strong vertical movements of the Earth in this region, many streams have eroded valley in valley forms. These valleys and basins and lower uplands are used for grazing. The rocks of the highlands are extensively, if not richly, mineralized, have seen many small scattered mining ventures in the past. More recently, tourism and winter sports have developed.