earth science

North Australian Basin

North Australian Basin is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand North Australian Basin rather than just read about it. In short: The North Australian Basin (NAB; formerly Argo Abyssal Plain, or Argo Plain) is an oceanic basin in the easternmost corner of the Indian Ocean between northwest Australia and Indonesia. It was discovered by the U.S. research vessel "Argo" of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1960.

Key takeaways

North Australian Basin belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect North Australian Basin to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of North Australian Basin from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The North Australian Basin (NAB; formerly Argo Abyssal Plain, or Argo Plain) is an oceanic basin in the easternmost corner of the Indian Ocean between northwest Australia and Indonesia. It was discovered by the U.S. research vessel "Argo" of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1960. It should be distinguished from an Australian sedimentary basin with the same name. It bounds the Australian continental margin in the area of its northwestern shelf. From the north, east, south and southwest it is respectively bounded by the Java Trench, the submerged continental crust of the Scott Plateau, Rowley Terrace, and the Exmouth Planeau with the Wombat Plateau. To the west it is separated from the Gascoyne Abyssal Plain by the Joey and Roo Rises north of the Platypus Spur. The floor of the basin has an area of 160,000 square kilometers. It has been suggested that the opening of the Argo Abyssal Plain was due to the rifting of a continental sliver off the passive margin of northeastern Gondwana in the Late Jurassic.

Illustrations

North Australian Basin: NAB is in the Indian Ocean off Northwest Australia — NAB is in the Indian Ocean off Northwest Australia

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with North Australian Basin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what North Australian Basin claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to North Australian Basin before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about North Australian Basin ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of North Australian Basin

In research: North Australian Basin appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses North Australian Basin in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: North Australian Basin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Abyssal plains, Marine geography stubs, Northern Australia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for North Australian Basin outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study North Australian Basin in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what North Australian Basin means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain North Australian Basin out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is North Australian Basin in simple terms?

Why does North Australian Basin matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study North Australian Basin?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on North Australian Basin.