Geography Grade 10 - Notes

Geography Grade 10 Textbook Notes

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Unit One: Landforms of Africa

Introduction: The textbook focuses on Africa's landforms, climate, natural resource bases, population, economic and cultural activities, human environment interactions, geographic issues, public concerns, and geospatial information and data processing.
Unit Outcomes: Students will be able to:
- Develop a general idea on the major landforms of the world.
- Identify major landforms and their spatial distribution in Africa.
- Describe the major landscape features of Africa.
- Recognize spatial variations in the distribution of major landforms in Africa.

1.1 Overview of the World’s Major Landforms

Key Terms: Continents, Landforms, Mountains, Oceans, Peninsula, Plain, Plateaus, Plate Tectonic, Volcanic Activities.
Landforms are physical features on the Earth's surface forming the terrain.
Major landforms: Mountains, plateaus, and plains.
Minor landforms: Hills, gorges, valleys, and basins.
Landform Creation:
- Internal processes (tectonic plate movement and volcanic activity) push up mountains and hills.
- External processes (erosion by water and wind) erode land and create minor landforms like gullies, river valleys, and gorges.
- These processes occur over long periods, sometimes millions of years.
- Example: Abbay Gorge (cuts down about 1000 m deep).
  *Continents and Oceans
  *The surface of the Earth is covered by land and water.
- The land forms make up continents and the water forms oceans.
  *Continents are the largest landmasses, with seven continents from largest to smallest: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, & Oceania (Australia).
  *Oceans
- Oceans are large areas of salt water between continents.
- The five oceans are the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, and Southern.
- Oceans cover 71% of the Earth.
- The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest, covering one-third of Earth's surface.
Coastal Land Features Created by Oceans:
- Islands: Pieces of ground completely surrounded by water; Greenland being the largest island.
- Peninsulas: Land with water on three sides, connected to the mainland on the fourth; examples: Italy and Florida.
- Isthmus: A narrow strip of land connecting two larger pieces of land with water on both sides; example: Isthmus of Panama.
Major Landforms:
- Mountains
  - Largest elevated landforms with steep sides and high peaks.
  - Hills: Smaller, less steep landforms around mountains.
  - Valleys: Low areas between mountains.
  - Formation: Rock layers pushed together, or volcanic activity.
  - Mt. Everest: Highest landform, $8,849$ meters above sea level, located in the Himalayas between Nepal and Tibet.
  - Himalayas: Formed 40 to 50 million years ago by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
- Plains
  - Large, flat, low-lying areas with no hills or mountains.
  - Example: The Great Plains in the mid-United States.
  - Important for crop cultivation and animal husbandry.
- Plateaus
  - Large areas of raised land with flat tops.
  - Formation: Volcanic activity beneath the Earth's surface pushing the land upwards.
  - Can stand alone or be close to other plateaus.
Under Ocean Landforms: Mountain ranges and basins (e.g., Mariana Trench).

1.2 Location and Related Features of Africa

Africa is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean and divided in half by the Equator.
It is the second largest and second most populous continent.
Area: $30.37$ million $km^2$ (6% of Earth's total surface, 20% of its land area).
Population (2020): $1.3$ billion people (16% of the world’s population).
Home to 54 recognized sovereign states.
The division across the Equator creates symmetrical climatic and physical conditions in the north and south. Examples:
- Kalahari Desert (south) similar to the Sahara (north).
- Karoo (south) matches the Maghreb (north).
- Conditions in the Cape area similar to the Mediterranean region.

1.3 Major Landforms of Africa

Landforms result from volcanic and tectonic processes.
Landforms affect human perception and interactions with the environment, climate (macroclimate and microclimate), and ecosystems.
Ecological importance: Ecosystems develop within landform regions, and material and energy flows occur within the landform system.
Ecosystems (organisms and physical environment) develop within landform regions.
Four Significant Landform Regions:
- African Alpine System
  - Atlas Mountains: Extends from Morocco to Tunisia (more than $2,000$ kilometers).
  - Chains: Anti-Atlas, High Atlas, Middle Atlas, Rif Mountains, Tell Atlas, and Sahara Atlas.
    *Maghrib region include Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia
- African Massif
  - The Sahara Desert: Largest hot desert (area of $9,200,000$ square kilometers) covering North Africa (from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea).
  - Countries: Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, and Tunisia.
  - Landscape: sand dunes (erg) and desert pavement of pebbles (reg).
  - The Sahel: Semiarid region south of the Sahara forming a transitional zone, stretching from Mauritania and Senegal to Somalia (shore of the Sahara Desert).
  - Countries: Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea.
  - Landscape: Grasslands and savannahs, scrub areas, and acacia trees.
  - The Savanna: Transitional region between rainforest and the Sahel grassland (tropical grassland with few drought-resistant trees and shrubs).
  - Parts: Woodland and thorn tree tall grass Savanna.
  - The Tropical Rainforest: Found north and south of the Equator (equatorial rainforests); includes the Congo Basin (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea).
  - Flora: Diverse, Broadleaf evergreen trees.
  - Climate: Very wet, high temperature and humidity.
- East African Highlands and Rift System
  - The Rift Valley and African Great Lakes: Formed by normal faulting (elongated block of the Earth’s crust lying between two faults displaced downward to form a graben).
  - Extends from the Red Sea through Ethiopia to Mozambique (total length estimated to be $5,600$ km, average width is between $32$ km and $80$ km).
  - Rift Valley lakes are series of lakes in the East African Rift valley. Many of the lakes are freshwater lake, while others are alkaline or salty lakes.
  - Lake Victoria: Largest lake in Africa. $68,800$ square kilometers .
  - The Ethiopian and Eritrean Highlands: High plateau divided by the Great Rift Valley, producing regional variations in climate and other features.
  - Northwestern Highlands extend into Eritrea.
- Southern Africa Platform
  - Mountains and Desert Systems: Diverse landscape including escarpment, mountains, grassland, and desert landscapes.
  - Ukhahlamba (Drakensberg) escarpment: Most recognizable landscape (average altitude is almost $3,000$ m above sea level).
  - Kalahari Desert: Lies mainly in Botswana (arid mixture of grasslands and sand).
  - Namib Desert: Along the west coast of Namibia (affected by the cold ocean current of Benguela).
    *Highveld: is the portion of the South African inland plateau.