Physical Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa

Physical Processes

©2012, TESCCC World Geography Unit 9, Lesson 1

Great Rift Valley

• Continuous trench that runs from Southwest Asia (Syria) to southeast Africa (Mozambique).

• Caused by tectonic forces –divergent plate boundaries splitting the African plate.

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Mount Kilimanjaro

• A dormant volcano, highest peak in Africa

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Congo Basin

• Tropical rainforest located in central Africa

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Serengeti

• Wildebeest crossing, located in Tanzania and Kenya

• Huge savanna- a tropical or subtropical grassland

• “Endless Plain”, large diversity of plants and animals

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Lake Victoria

• Largest lake in Africa, largest tropical lake in the world, and second largest fresh water lake in the world

• Formed from a depression in a late ice age, then later formed when westward-flowing rivers were dammed by an upthrown crustal block about 400,000 years ago, primarily filled today through precipitation

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Ethiopian Highlands

• Rugged mass of mountains, Ethiopia, Somalia, Horn of Africa.

• Large plateau, created by tectonic forces 75 million years ago

• Temperate climate due to its location

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Kalahari Desert

• Large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa

• Covers Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa

• Formed due to continentiality

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Namib Desert

• Coastal desert in southern Africa, Nambia, Angola, South Africa,

• Oldest desert in the world, almost totally uninhabited.

• Formed due to effects of ocean currents preventing the formation of clouds, mountains, and hot air from the east

©2012, TESCCC