1. Africa: The Plateau Continent
Chapter 18
Physical Geography
Africa: The Plateau Continent

2. Africa 2nd largest continent
Geographers describe Africa as a gigantic plateau
Separating the plateaus are steep cliffs or slopes known as escarpments
Highest overall elevation of any other continent

3. Africa from space

4. Mountains & Highlands Mt. Kilimanjaro – highest mountain (19,340 feet)
Mt. Kenya
Mountains are mainly volcanic

5. Mt. Kilimanjaro

6. Mt. Kenya

7. Great Rift Valley
Stretches from the Jordan River in SW Asia to the Zambezi River in Mozambique
Y-shaped trench more than 4,000 miles long & creates bold escarpments more than a mile high
Formed as the continental plates pulled apart

8. Great Rift Valley

9. Lakes
Lake Victoria – 2nd largest freshwater lake in the world, the source of the White Nile, only 270 ft. deep
Lake Tanganyika – 420 miles in length – world’s longest freshwater lake, 4,700 ft. at deepest point
Lake Malawi (also called Lake Nyasa) – many types of fish, some that exist in no other place

10. Lake Victoria

11. Lake Tanganyika

12. Lake Malawi seen from Likoma Island

13. Rivers Nile River – White Nile branch starts in Lake Victoria
Flows more than 4,000 miles
More than 95% of Egyptians depend on the Nile for their water
Important for irrigation

14. Nile River

15. Nile River at Cairo

16. Nile River from space

17. Rivers Many waterfalls make rivers less useful for transportation
Congo River – longest river system south of the Sahara, 2,900 miles, crosses the Equator twice, 32 cataracts make a large portion impassable
Niger River – empties in the Atlantic Ocean
Zambezi River – Victoria Falls

18. Congo River

19. Niger River

20. Zambezi River (elephants crossing)

21. Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls – during the rainy season, millions of gallons of water crash over the falls, clouds of spray splash more than 1,640 feet into the air
David Livingstone was the 1st European explorer to see the falls & named it after the British queen
More than twice the height of Niagara Falls

22. Victoria Falls

23. Victoria Falls

24. Natural Resources Africa’s wealth of resources Plenty vs. scarcity
Huge amount of world’s resources
Lack industrial base & money to develop them

25. Diamonds Has enriched some countries like Botswana & South Africa
However, in Angola people use diamonds to fund costly and bloody civil wars
War killed more than 500,000 Angolans and left 4 million homeless

26. Diamond miners in Sierra Leone

27. Other resources Gold – 30% of the world’s supply Platinum – 80%
Cobalt – 42% (used in high-grade steel for aircraft & industrial engines)
Chromium – world’s largest producer (South Africa, used in manufacturing stainless steel)
Also – copper, phosphates, oil, uranium, manganese, & zinc

28. Major commodities After oil, COFFEE is the most profitable
20% of the world’s supply, even though few Africans drink it
FYI - 66% of Africans earn their living from some type of farming

29. Other crops Sugar Palm oil Cocoa
Côte d’Ivoire – world’s largest exporter of cocoa beans (main ingredient in chocolate)

30. Lumber Nigeria – 8th worldwide in lumber production
Logging is depleting Africa’s forests
Every year in Africa, loggers clear an area of land about twice the size of New Jersey

31. Climate & Vegetation
All of Africa lies within 35 degrees of the Equator
The climate types and vegetation are mirrored north and south of the Equator

32. Deserts 2/5ths of the continent is covered by desert Sahara Desert
Namib Desert
Kalahari Desert – about the size of Italy

33. Sahara Desert
About 3,000 miles across from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea
1,200 miles north to south
In the summer, temps. may reach 136.4° F (hot enough to fry an egg on the sand)
Temps. fall below freezing at night in the winter
Only 20% sand – the rest is mountains, rock formations, & gravely plains
Camel – used for travel because they can go 17 days without water

34. Sahara Desert

35. Sahara Desert

36. Dune 7 in the Namib Desert (highest dune in the world)

37. A meerkat in the Kalahari Desert

38. Desert Oases Supports vegetation & wildlife
Created by groundwater close to the surface
World’s largest inland delta north of the Kalahari desert – formed by the Okavango River

39. Elephants in the Okavango Delta

40. Hippos in the Okavango Delta

41. The Sahel Means “shore of the desert” in Arabic Steppe grasslands
Lies between the Sahara Desert to the north and the more fertile grasslands to the south
Long, dry season and a short, wet season

42. The Sahel & Desertification
However, a persistent drought has brought famine & hardship to the people of the area
Since the 1960s, the desert has spread into the Sahel
Human causes of desertification:
Overgrazing of vegetation
Farming
Drilling for water

43. The Sahel

44. The Sahel

45. Tropical Savanna Tropical grasslands containing scattered trees
Wet and dry seasons (about inches of rain a year)
Governments have created game preserves to protect the wildlife
Serengeti Plains in Tanzania
Nairobi National Park in Kenya

46. Plains of the Serengeti National Park

47. Zebras in Botswana

48. Tropical Rain Forests 8% of Africa – centered mostly on the Equator
Temps in the 80s and daily rainfall
One square acre can contain almost 100 different kinds of trees
Poor farmland because the rain washes away (leaches) the nutrients from the soil
Face destruction – cocoa, rubber, and palm-oil plantations take more land
Logging companies seek the hardwood trees

49. Rain Forest

50. Moderate Climates Highlands of Kenya and the southern tip of Africa
Heavily populated areas are areas with fertile soil, adequate rain, & a favorable climate