Chapter 18 Introduction to A f r i c a
Ch. 18:1 Landforms & Resources 1. Africa s shape & landforms are the result of its location in the southern part of the ancient supercontinent of. Pangaea Over thousands of years, North & South America,, Antarctica Australia, and India drifted into their current, positions but present-day Africa moved. very little 2. A huge plateau covers most of Africa. It rises inland from narrow lowlands along the. coast 3. Throughout this landform lie five huge. basins Each one spans more than 625 miles across and is up to 5,000 feet deep.
The African landscape is largely a vast interior plateau surrounded by a narrow coastal plain.
4. The world s longest river, the, Nile flows more than 4,000 miles through, Uganda Sudan, and. Egypt 5. The continent s most distinctive landforms are in. East Africa This area contains long, thin valleys called. rift valleys 6. A cluster of lakes formed at the bottom of some of these valleys., Lake Tanganyika the longest freshwater lake in the world, stretches about 420 miles and is more than 4,700 feet deep. 7. Africa contains mainly volcanic mountains. Mount Kenya &, Mount Kilimanjaro Africa s highest peak, are both. volcanic
Bridge spanning the Nile in Cairo
Traditional Egyptian boat on the Nile
The Great Pyramids of Giza, seen from the Nile River
Along the Nile
Zebras in the Great Rift Valley
Masai boys in the Great Rift Valley
Mt. Kenya Rain Forest
Mt. Kenya
Mt. Kilimanjaro
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Victoria
8. Africa s minerals place it among the world s richest continents. For example, South Africa is the world s largest producer of, chromium an element used in. stainless steel 9. Recently discovered offshore oil will likely enable Angola to surpass Nigeria as Africa s most oil-rich country. 10. After oil, coffee is the most profitable commodity in Africa.
Entrance to South African Diamond Mine
Offshore oil drilling rig near Nigeria
Grinding coffee in Ethiopia
Ch. 18:2 Climate & Vegetation 1. Africa lies almost entirely between the Tropic of Cancer & the Tropic of. Capricorn This location gives most of Africa, warm tropical. temperatures 2. The largest desert in the world, the, Sahara stretches about 3,000 miles across Africa, from the Atlantic Ocean to the, Red Sea and also runs 1,200 miles from north to. south 3. Six thousand feet under this desert lie huge stores of underground water called. aquifers 4. Nearly 90 percent of Africa lies within the Zone. Tropical
Sahara
AQUIFERS
5. Rainfall in Africa is often a matter of. extremes Some parts get too much rain, while others parts receive too. little The closer an area is to the, equator the longer the. rainy season 6. A climate Mediterranean exists on the northern & southern tips of the. continent 7. Tropical grassland covers most of Africa. Serengeti National Park located in north-central, Tanzania contains some of the best grasslands in the. world 8. The rest of Africa is covered by a wide variety of, plant life from tropical rain forests to. grapes The rain forests of Africa sit on the Congo Basin in the area of the. equator
Climates of Africa
Serengeti National Park
9. Most animals in a rain forest live in the, tops of trees about 150 feet above the. ground This area is called a. canopy 10. All of Africa s regions contain a variety of. vegetation The of mangrove West Africa sprouts up along river banks in swamps & river.the deltas roots of this tree are breeding grounds for. fish
African Rain Forest
mangrove
Ch. 18:3 Human-Environment Interaction The Sahel in Arabic means shore of the desert It is a narrow band of dry grassland that runs east to west on the southern edge of the. Sahara Since the 1960s, the desert has spread into this band of dry grassland. This shift of the desert is called, desertification which is the expansion of dry conditions to moist areas that are next to deserts. Farming increases this process. When farmers clear land to plant, crops they expose the soil to the, wind which can cause. erosion In addition, irrigation increases salt levels which prevent the growth of. vegetation
Desertification
Another environmental issue has to do with the discovery of oil in Nigeria in 1956. Rich oil deposits in the Niger delta made Nigeria one of Africa s wealthiest countries. The damage caused by foreign oil companies & the Nigerian government has been. severe More than 4,000 have oil spills been recorded in Nigeria over the past. decades Egypt faces environmental challenges caused by another resource. water Throughout, history Egyptians have experienced cycles of floods &. droughts To solve these problems, they built the Aswan High Dam, which was completed in 1970. The dam gives farmers a regular supply of. water
Gas Flare in Nigerian Delta Oil Fields
Aswan High Dam on the Nile River
Abu Simbel, north of Aswan High Dam
Because of the, dam the Nile river no longer deposits its rich silt on the farmland. Now, farmers must rely on expensive artificial fertilizers to enrich the. soil Also, year-round irrigation has resulted in a rising water table in Egypt. As a result, salts from deep in the earth have decreased the fertility of the soil.