AFRICAN GEOGRAPHY
Physical Features And Images
This is a Tour of Africa’s Physical Features
Discussion #2: As you tour the Coastline, look for Ports and Access to Global Trade
Textbook Reading: pp. 2-12
AFRICA: EXTERIOR EASTERN HEMISPHERE
Discussion #2: Africa’s Role in the Global Economy 1500BC–AD1400 via Trade (for this time period GLOBAL means the Eastern Hemisphere so there is no trade from the West African Coast UNTIL Module #2)
2nd LARGEST CONTINENT
Africa is a Continent with 54 countries
On the mainland And several island
nations.
PET PEEVE:
Please do not mis-speak and call Africa a country.
SOUTH: EXTERIOR COASTAL FEATURES: THE NAMIB DESERT
See Video Clip
SOUTH: EXTERIOR COASTAL FEATURES: THE SKELETON COAST (THE NAMIB)
SOUTH: EXTERIOR FEATURES THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE
My Photo:
1st Discovered by Portuguese Explorer Bartholomew Diaz in the 1480s
1st Rounded by Vasco da Gama in 1498
SOUTH: EXTERIOR FEATURESCAPE POINT
Many mis-identify this as the Cape of Good Hope
Also mis-identified as the division between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans
VIEW OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC FROM CAPE POINT
SOUTHERNMOST POINTAFRICA CAPE AGUILLES
CAPE AGUILLES: WHERE THE ATLANTIC AND THE INDIAN OCEANS MEET
EAST: EXTERIOR FEATURESTHE HORN OF AFRICA
EAST: EXTERIOR FEATURES THE HORN OF AFRICA
NORTH & EAST: EXTERIOR FEATURES THE RED SEA
The Red Sea is sometimes called the Erythraean (Eritrean) Sea
Described in a Sailor's Manual,The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, written in Greek, describes navigation and trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports along the coast of the Red Sea, and others along Northeast Africa and the Indian subcontinent. The text is dated to a mid-1st century date
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia.
The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden.
The sea is underlain by the Red Sea Rift which is part of the Great Rift Valley.
The name RED is referring to the direction South, just as the Black Sea's name may refer to North. The basis of this theory is that some Asiatic languages used color words to refer to the cardinal directions.
DISCUSSION #2: AXUM Controls the Trade along this water route transmitting goods to both the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean
NORTH: EXTERIOR FEATURES: THE SINAI PENINSULA
The Sinai Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about 23,000 sq mi in area
It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south
It is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia, as opposed to Africa, serving as a land bridge between two continents
NORTH: EXTERIOR FEATURES MEDITERRANEAN COASTLINE
DISCUSSION #2: Trade from the Interior through North Africa transmitting goods to the Mediterranean Sea to points North (Europe), West (British Isles) and East (West Asia)
NORTH: EXTERIOR FEATURES THE STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR
Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea
Separates Gibraltar and Peninsular Spain in Europe from Morocco and Ceuta (Spain) in Africa.
The name comes from the Rock of Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic Jebel Tariq (meaning "Tariq's mountain") named after Tariq ibn Ziyad.
Europe and Africa are separated by 8.9 mi of ocean at the strait's narrowest point.
NORTH EXTERIOR FEATURES:GIBRALTAR
The Rock of Gibraltar
WEST: EXTERIOR FEATURESWEST AFRICA'S SHAPE
Shape determined by early Tectonic split between Africa and South America
INTERIOR EAST AFRICA
DISCUSSION #2: Trade from the Interior through East Africa transmitting goods to the Indian Ocean to points North (through the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea) and East (through the Indian Ocean to the Arabian Peninsula, Indian sub-continent, and Asian Markets)
THE TECTONIC PLATES
The Tectonic Plates create the fault that produces East Africa's Rift Valley
The fault begins in the Dead Sea crosses into Africa and moves southward.
RIFT VALLEY = A Graben Fault
The Land between the edges of the Fault Sinks:
The Serengeti Grassland and many lakes in East Africa
THE RIFT from Past to Future
Will the Horn of Africa
becme an Island?
THE RIFT: In Djibouti Shows Separation of the Graben Fault
DANAKIL400 FT BELOW SEA LEVEL
Located in the Rift Valley (Graben Fault) The Danakil Desert located in northeast Ethiopia, southern Eritrea, and northwestern Djibouti. Situated in the Afar Triangle, it stretches across 100,000 square kilometres of arid terrain.
The area is known for its volcanoes and extreme heat, with daytime temperatures surpassing 122 °F
The Danakil Desert is one of the lowest and hottest places on Earth
RIFT VALLEY LAKES CREATED BY THE GRABEN FAULT
LAKE VICTORIA is
NOT a lake created
by the Fault
Look at the Lakes created
by the Graben Fault
INTERIOR EAST AFRICA:LAKE VICTORIA–NOT A RIFT LAKE
With a surface area of 26,600 sq mi, Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area
The largest tropical lake in the world
Lake Victoria is the world's second largest freshwater lake by surface area
Lake Superior in North America is larger.
In terms of its volume, Lake Victoria is the world's ninth largest continental lake with 2.2 billion acre-feet of water
INTERIOR EAST AFRICA:LAKE TANGANYIKA
Lake Tanganyika is the largest rift lake in Africa
Lake Tanganyika is the deepest lake in Africa a mean depth of 1,870 ft & a max. depth of 4,820 ft (in the northern basin)
Lake Tanganyika is the world's longest freshwater lake
With a shoreline 1,136 mi Lake Tanganyika is the second largest freshwater lake in the world by volume and holds18% of the world's available fresh water
Lake Tanganyika is the second deepest lake in the world
Lake Baikal in Siberia is the Largest by volume and Deepest Lake in the World
INTEIROR EAST AFRICA:RIFT VALLEY: THE SERENGETI PLAIN
Serengeti from the Maasai language
"Serengit" meaning "Endless Plains"
The Serengeti hosts the largest terrestrial mammal migration in the world,
It is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa and one of the ten natural travel wonders of the world
The region contains the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and several game reserves.
Approx. 70 larger mammal and 500 bird species are found there.
See Video Clip
INTERIOR EAST AFRICA:THE RIFT VALLEY
INTERIOR EAST AFRICA: MOUNTAINS: MT. KILIMANJARO 19,340 FT
Mt. Kilimanjaro has three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira
It is a dormant volcanic mountain in Tanzania.
It is the highest mountain in Africa
It is the highest free-standing mountain in the world (19,341 ft) above sea level.
The term Kilima-Njaro has generally been understood to mean the Mountain (Kilima) of Greatness (Njaro).
However, it may mean the "White" mountain, as the term "Njaro" in former times was been used to denote whiteness,
Does it look like this today? READ ON
INTERIOR EAST AFRICA: MOUNTAINS: MT. KILIMANJARO
THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TODAY
LOSS OF THE GLACIER
How/Why? Nature Made?
Human Made?
The excessive and aggressive felling of trees in the last few decades has led to a decrease in the moisture flow up the mountain slopes, where it is deposited as precipitation
The peak does not get replenished by the water and moisture that the air flow would normally bring from that evapotranspiration from trees
The icepack around Kilimanjaro’s summit is now measured to be approximately 15% of levels measured in 1912.
See Video
1993
2000
Short Answer #2
INTERIOR EAST AFRICA: MOUNTAINS: MT. KENYA 17,058 FT
Mt. Kenya is highest mountain in Kenya
It is the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro
INTERIOR EAST AFRICA:ETHIOPIAN HIGHLANDS
INTERIOR EAST/NORTH AFRICA: NILE RIVER CONFLUENCE & SOURCES
The Nile River is comprised of the White Nile whose source is Lake Victoria (discovered by John Hanning Speke) and the Blue Nile whose source is the Ethiopian Highlands and Lake Tana (two rainy seasons)
The Confluence of the two rivers creates the Nile River
The Annual Flood is caused by the Blue Nile
INTERIOR EAST AFRICA:THE WHITE NILE
In Uganda and The Sudan
INTERIOR EAST AFRICA: THE BLUE NILE/BLUE NILE FALLS
The Blue Nile brings the Silt from the Ethiopian Highlands that will be deposited along the lower Nile during the annual flood
THE NILE
The Confluence of the White Nile (steady flow) and the Blue Nile (floods due to 2 Rainy Seasons in the Ethiopian Highlands)
The Nile in Cairo Floods in June of the year
EGYPT’S ASWAN HIGH DAM on the NILE RIVER
Completed in 1970
Replaced the Aswan Dam of 1902
An Embankment Dam built across the Nile at the city of Aswan
Relocated Antiquities of Abu-Simbel
Controls the Nile River Flood Waters for Irrigation
Generates Electricity
THE GRAND ETHIOPIAN RENAISSANCE DAM BASIN 2015-2019
Control over the Nile River
Ethiopia, Sudan & Egypt
Rain in the Ethiopian Highlands from June through December
THE GRAND ETHIOPIAN RENAISSANCE DAM LOCATION 2015-2019
Location:
Control over Flood Waters
Hydro-Electricity
THE GRAND ETHIOPIAN RENAISSANCE DAM 2015-2019
The Dam in Ethiopia opening in 2022
Largest in Africa
INTERIOR CENTRAL & SOUTHERN AFRICA
CENTRAL AFRICASOUTHERN AFRICA
INTERIOR CENTRAL AFRICA: TROPICAL RAINFOREST
In 1980, 15% of the African Continent was Rainforest.
Today, 5-7% of the Continent is Rainforest
Why?
INTERIOR CENTRAL AFRICA: TROPICAL RAINFOREST
The Canopy
Although lush and green, the soil is poor because it can never build humus. Enlarge the photo to see the roots sitting on top of the ground where they get their nutrients from the rain.
INTERIOR CENTRAL AFRICA: THE CONGO/ZAIRE RIVER
INTERIOR CENTRAL AFRICA: CONGO/ZAIRE PHOTO
INTERIOR CENTRAL/SOUTHERN AFRICA: THE ZAMBEZI RIVER
INTERIOR CENTRAL/SOUTHERN AFRICA: THE ZAMBEZI RIVER
INTERIOR CENTRAL/SOUTHERN AFRICA: THE ZAMBEZI RIVER
INTERIOR CENTRAL/SOUTHERN AFRICA: THE ZAMBEZI DELTA
INTERIOR CENTRAL/SOUTHERN AFRICA: VICTORIA FALLS
INTERIOR CENTRAL/SOUTHERN AFRICA: THE SMOKE THAT THUNDERS
See Video
INTERIOR CENTRAL/SOUTHERN AFRICA: VICTORIA FALLS
DRY SEASON (Reduction of Flow)
2019 DROUGHT
How/Why? Nature Made?
Human Made?
INTEIROR SOUTHERN AFRICA: THE KALAHARI DESERT
See Video
INTERIOR SOUTHERN AFRICA: THE KALAHARI–NOT A TRUE DESERT
The Kalahari “Desert” is part of the huge sand basis from the Orange River in South Africa to Angola, in the West to Namibia &in the east to Zimbabwe
Created by the erosion of soft stone formations.
The Wind Shaped the Sand Ridges
In the Last 10 t0 20,000 years, Dunes stabilized with vegetation.
Dominant vegetation: Grasses, Thorny Shrubs & Acacia Trees, can survive long drought periods of more that ten months every year/
Should be called a Dry Savanna because the Dunes do not wander like those of the Namib
WEST AFRICA INTERIOR
LAKE CHAD:Chad is a local word meaning "large expanse of water"
LAKE CHAD
Lake Chad is the remnant of a former inland sea
At its largest, sometime before 5000 BC (Important Date for the Ancients), Lake Mega-Chad is estimated to have covered an area of 390,000 sq mi, larger than the Caspian Sea is today
1823 Lake Chad first surveyed from shore by Europeans
1823 considered to be one of the largest lakes in the world then
In 1851, German explorer Heinrich Barth carried a boat overland from Tripoli across the Sahara Desert by camel and made the first European waterborne survey
THE DRYING OF LAKE CHAD
Lake Chad shrank as much as 95% from about 1963 to 1998
LAKE CHAD
WEST AFRICA INTERIOR:MT. CAMEROON 13,454 FT
Mt. Cameroon's indigenous name is Mongo ma Ndemi ("Mountain of Greatness").
It is the highest point in sub-Saharan western and central Africa
It is the fourth most prominent peak in Africa and the 31st most prominent in the world.
1986 LAKE NYOS DISASTER
Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun are both crater lakes about a mile square located in remote mountain areas of northwest Cameroon,
Village
August 21st gases from Mount Cameroon volcano came out of the lake
settled in the valley and killed all humans, animals, and insects
Lake Nyos 8 days after Event
WEST AFRICA INTEIROR: THE FOUTA DJALLON HIGHLANDS
Dry Season
Rainy Season Cloud over the Fouta Djallon
WEST AFRICA INTERIOR: THE NIGER RIVER BASIN
The Niger is the largest river in western Africa
The Niger is the third-longest river in Africa, exceeded only by the Nile and the Congo/Zaire River
The Niger is the world's 11th-longest river at 2,590 miles.
The river begins in Guinea and runs east from Guinea, through Mali, Niger, Benin, and Nigeria.
There is an almost 90-degree turn south, to the Gulf of Guinea.
Short Answer #1
Continue Reading—includes the Inland Niger Delta
WEST AFRICA INTERIOR: THE NIGER RIVER
The Niger is called Jeliba or Joliba "great river" in Mande; Orimiri or Orimili "great water" in Igbo; Egerew n-Igerewen "river of rivers" in Tuareg; Isa Ber "big river" in Songhay; Kwara in Hausa; and Oya in Yoruba.
The origin of the name Niger, which originally applied only to the middle reaches of the river at Timbuktu.
Timbuktu traded with the Mediterranean Basin (N-S Gold-Salt Trade) and Latin influence that altered the Tuareg name to, "black"
INLAND NIGER DELTA
The Niger River has Two Deltas:
The River was originally two Rivers: The Djoliba and the Quorra.
The Djoliba's Headwaters were in Guinea's highlands
The Djoliba's Delta is at the confluence of the Niger [Djoliba] and the Bani Rivers
The Quorra's Headwaters were in what is now the Sahara Desert
The Quorra's Delta is the Mouth of the Niger [Quorra] River at the Ocean (aka as the Oil Rivers because of the Oil Palms grown in the region
As the Sahara grew, the contours of the land caused the two rivers to "join" which makes the route of river move from North to East to South
The River provided the Trade Oppotunities for the Empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai
The Trans-Saharan Caravan system provided Trade Opportunities for the Empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai
WEST AFRICA INTERIOR:TROPICAL RAIN FOREST
KAKUM NATIONAL FOREST,
GHANA
WEST AFRICA INTERIOR: RAINFOREST IN THE CANOPY
WEST AFRICA INTERIOR:TROPICAL VEGETATION
WEST AFRICA INTERIOR:SLASH & BURN AGRICULTURE
They underbrush and non-fruit bearing trees cut
The underbrush is set on fire
The ashes become the fertilizer
Planting is done with a digging stick; plants each individual seed
The ground cover protects the seeds from torrential rain
WEST AFRICA INTERIOR: PALM OIL FROM PALM NUTS
INLAND NORTH AFRICA
NORTH INTERIORATLAS MOUNTAINS
The Atlas is a mountain range across the northwestern stretch of Africa extending about 1,600 mi through Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia
The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of 13,665 ft in southwestern Morocco
The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert.
TIBESTI MOUNTAINSOASIS
The Tibesti Mts. are located in central Sahara, primarily located in the extreme north of Chad, with a small extension into southern Libya.
The highest peak in the range, Emi Koussi, lies to the south at a height of 11,302 ft. and is the highest point in both Chad and the Sahara
Tibesti, which means "place where the mountain people live," is the domain of the Toubou people.
The Toubou live mainly along the wadis, on rare oases where palm trees and limited grains grow
TIBESTI MOUNTAINS
THE SAHARA
The Sahara Desert extends
Eastward from the Atlantic Ocean some 3,000 miles to the Nile River and the Red Sea, and
Southward from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and the Mediterranean shores more than 1,000 miles to the savannah called the Sahel.
THE SAHARA
HOW THE SAHARA BECAME A DESERT
Climate scientist Gavin Schmidt, of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, explained
c. 8,000 years ago, the Earth’s orbit was slightly different compared to how it is today.
The tilt changed from around 24.1 degrees to the present-day 23.5 degrees.
THE SAHARA BECOMES A DESERT
There is now considerable evidence to show that the Sahara used to have a grassland ecosystem and was a much wetter place than it is now.
THE SAHARA
IN THE DESERT
SAHARA SANDSTORM
DJADO PLATEAU
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