1 / 22

Sub-Sahara Africa: The Land

Sub-Sahara Africa: The Land. Ch. 20 Sec. 1. Sub-Sahara Africa: The Land. Ch. 20 Sec. 1. Highland Features. Plateaus make a series of steps  make up most of Africa Edges of plateaus are escarpments (cliffs) Most are <20 miles from coast (Map on p. 501)

sorcha
Télécharger la présentation

Sub-Sahara Africa: The Land

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Sub-Sahara Africa: The Land Ch. 20 Sec. 1

  2. Sub-Sahara Africa: The Land Ch. 20 Sec. 1

  3. Highland Features • Plateaus make a series of steps make up most of Africa • Edges of plateaus are escarpments (cliffs) • Most are <20 miles from coast (Map on p. 501) • Hard to travel inland from coast (bad for exploration)

  4. Highland Features • Rivers plunge down escarpments making cataracts(waterfalls) Victoria Falls; b/w Zambia & Zimbabwe

  5. Highland Features • Africa has highest overall elevation than any other continent… • But still few mountains • Mts. included in Eastern highlands • Ethiopian Highlands, and volcanoes Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya

  6. Highland features • Ruwenzori Mts. • Divide Uganda & Dem. Rep. of the Congo • Covered in snow and clouds • Drakensberg Range • South Africa • Lots of national parks, wetlands

  7. Drakensberg Range; 11,420 ft. - “Barrier of Spears” in Zulu Tugela Falls World’s 2nd tallest Waterfall

  8. Great Rift Valley • Stretches from Syria to Mozambique • Formed by shifting tectonic plates (what kind??) millions of yrs. ago • Volcanoes & earthquakes continue to shape region TODAY

  9. 6,000 Miles Long!

  10. Great Rift Valley • Forms two branches • Eastern branch = volcanic cones • Western branch= lakes • Lake Tanganyika (2nd lgst. freshwater & 2nd deepest in world) • Lake Malawi (mt. rimmed, >2,300 feet deep) • Lake Victoria (2nd widest in world, but shallow; source of White Nile)

  11. Water Systems • Lakes & rivers come from basins formed millions of yrs. ago as land uplifted • Travel from plateaus in center of cont. to the sea • Hit escarpments  waterfalls  near impossible to navigate inland/ up river

  12. Water Systems • Lake Chad: • West-central Africa • 20 mil. ppl in 4 countries depend on it • Faces desertification (droughts + natural climate) • So shallow, affected greatly by climate Δs • 1960s = 26,000 km²; 2000= 1,500 km²

  13. Water Systems • Lake Volta: • Man-made (1 of lgst. in world) • Flooded 700 villages & displaced 70,000 to create • Used for irrigation, fishing, hydroelectric power (Akosombo Dam) for major aluminum plant and ppl of Ghana

  14. Water Systems • Niger River: • “great river” main artery in W. Africa • 2,600 miles long (3rd in Africa) • Forms arc across 5 countries • Vital for irrigation & transportation • Splits into Niger Delta in Nigeria (150 X 200 miles)

  15. Water Systems • Zambezi River: • Many waterfalls (Victoria Falls- 355 foot drop– 2X size of Niagra) • Congo River: • Meets sea at deep, navigable estuary (only one in Africa) • Largest network of navigable water in Africa • But still has major waterfalls & rapids

  16. Physical Barriers • Sahara prevents travel from North Africa to South/Central Africa • Western deltas were treacherous to sail inland • Eastern highlands made travel inland difficult (cliffs) • Europeans controlled coastal trade and Africans controlled inland trade

  17. Natural resources • Mineral resources are abundant • Plentiful oil reserves • Various metals across region • S. Africa has ½ world’s gold, also found elsewhere • Major diamond deposits

  18. Natural Resources • Water is ABUNDANT • The problem lies with harnessing power (physical & financial problems) • Congo River- More potential hydroelectric power than U.S. • Africa hold’s 25% of the world’s potential for hydroelectricity, but uses less than 10% of it. • More development is occurring • Kenya installed 20,000 rural solar power systems from 86-96

More Related