SHORT GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 233 



eastern longitude. The greater part of the area is situated 

 to the west of the Dividing Eange, which attains its greatest 

 height in the south of the State at Mount Kosciusko with 7,305 

 feet. The State can be divided into the following three main 

 sections : — 



(1) The Coastal Range has a width of about 60 miles in the 

 centre, but is much narrower at the north and south ends. It 

 contains two coal measures, the most important of which is 

 situated to the north, west and south of Sydney, occupying an 

 area of about 25,000 square miles and being one of the most 

 valuable assets of the State. The coastal region is largely com- 

 posed of post-tertiary deposits with very rich agricultural areas 

 and the most important forests of the State. 



(2) The Tablelands of the Main Divide. — The New England 

 massif in the north is composed of sediments of carboniferous 

 age with large masses of granite. The Blue Mountain massif in 

 the centre presents a monotonous level plain, consisting of great 

 masses of sandstone with a band of readily weathering shale ; 

 below the sandstone are soft shales and coal. The Kosciusko 

 massif in the south consists chiefly of granite. Two important 

 rivers flow from its western slopes, the Murray and the Mur- 

 rumbidgee. 



(3) The Western Plains extend from the western foothills to the 

 great tableland ; they consist of granite rocks and sediments of 

 various ages, and they are covered by post-tertiary deposits, 

 flood loams, &c. ; but in some cases the older formations still rise 

 above them. 



The Climate ranges from subtropical to temperate in the coastal 

 zone, from temperate to subalpine in the highland zone, from 

 temperate to arid in the interior and to extreme aridity in the 

 west. The rainfall ranges from 80 inches in the subtropical zone 

 to 9 inches (and even less) in the extreme west. 



2. Main Types of Forest Growth. 



(1) The Hardwood forests may be divided into two sub-types : — 

 (a) The luxuriant growth in the moist parts of the coastal 



zone and in a few favoured places in the highland 



zone. 



