1.3 MAJOR LANDFORMS OF AFRICA

Question 1

Landforms are the results of ____________ and ______________.

Answer 1

volcanic and tectonic processes

Question 2

___________________ provide a physical context for describing the landscape, topography, and ecological units within the environment.

Answer 2

Landforms

Question 3

Landforms are ecologically important elements because _______________ develop within landform regions, and material and energy flows occur within the landform system.

Answer 3

Ecosystems

Question 4

Landforms have little influence on the climate of a region.

Answer 4

False, they affect, modify and influence climate

Question 5

The effect can be recognized in both large areas as _______________ and small areas as ____________________.

Answer 5

macroclimate, microclimate

Question 6

List the four effects of landforms on ecosystem patterns and processes.

Answer 6

1) Landform attributes (elevation, steepness of slope, and aspect) produce many different patterns which determine the ecological potential of an area.
2) They affect the flow of organisms, energy ,and material.
3) They affect the spatial pattern of non-geomorphic disturbance by fire and wind.
4) They may resist changes that geomorphic processes create; hence protecting biotic features and processes.

Question 7

In Africa , there are _______ significant landform regions.

Answer 7

four

Question 8

Each of these regions contains eight major physical regions:

Answer 8

• African Alpine System: Atlas Mountains
• African Massif: The Sahara, Sahel, Savanna and Tropical rainforest
• East African Highlands and rift system: The Rift Valley and African Great Lakes and The Ethiopian Highlands
• Southern Africa Platform: Mountains and Desert systems of South Africa.

Question 9

Atlas Mountains: contains a range of mountains in North Africa that extends from ______________ to ________________.

Answer 9

Morocco to Tunisia

Question 10

Atlas Mountain forms a series of mountain chains including: Hint 6

Answer 10

The Anti-Atlas, High Atlas, Middle Atlas, Rift Mountains, Tell Atlas, and Sahara Atlas.

Question 11

The Atlas Mountains make up the Maghrib region including: 3

Answer 11

Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.

Question 12

Maghrib means ____________.

Answer 12

‘west’ in Arabic

Question 13

The Atlas mountain range extends for more than __________ kilometers, from the _________________ in the southwest, to the __________________ in the northeast.

Answer 13

2,000
Moroccan port of Agadir
Tunisian capital of Tunis

Question 14

The topography of the Atlas mountain forms a high divide between the _______________ in the north and the _____________ in the south.

Answer 14

Mediterranean Sea, Sahara Desert

Question 15

With an area of ___________ square kilometers, it is the largest hot desert in the world.

Answer 15

9,200,000

Question 16

The _ covers the entire region of North Africa, from the Atlantic coast in the west to the Red Sea in the east.

Answer 16

Sahara Desert

Question 17

The Sahara borders the _____________ and the _________________ in the north.

Answer 17

Mediterranean Sea, Atlas Mountains

Question 18

The Sahara Desert extends south into ___________ and a region known as the ____________.

Answer 18

Sudan, Sahel

Question 19

The Sahara encompasses whole or large
parts of _________ countries in North Africa.

Answer 19

Ten

Question 20

The countries the Sahara encompasses are:

Answer 20

Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, and Tunisia.

Question 21

The landscape of the Sahara is covered with ___________.

Answer 21

sand

Question 22

The Sahara Desert has enormous quantities of reddish sand dune that is weathered from ______________.

Answer 22

sandstone

Question 23

Enormous quantities of reddish sand dune make up a great sand sea, called ___________.

Answer 23

Erg

Question 24

A type of surface where a desert pavement of pebbles on top of vast flat-surfaced sheets of sand is called _________.

Answer 24

Reg

Question 25

The ______________ is a vast semiarid region of North Africa, to the south of the Sahara that forms a transitional zone at the south of the desert and comprises the northern part of the region known as the ____________.

Answer 25

Sahel, Sudan

Question 26

Sahel is an _________ word (sahil) meaning “_________”.

Answer 26

Arabic, shore

Question 27

The Sahel refers to the ___________ kilometers stretch of savanna that is the shore or edge of the Sahara Desert.

Answer 27

5,000

Question 28

The Sahel spreads west to east from ____________ and ____________ to ______________.

Answer 28

Mauritania, Senegal, Somalia

Question 29

Countries in the Sahel include: 9

Answer 29

Burkina Faso, Chad, Eritrea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan

Question 30

The _ are grasslands and savannahs, with scrub areas to the north, alternating areas of trees, mainly acacias in the south.

Answer 30

Sahel lands

Question 31

_____________ is a land covered with grass and other low plants suitable for grazing animals.

Answer 31

Pasture

Question 32

T/F In the Sahel region, there are no grazing lands for the livestock (camel, pack ox, and grazing cattle and sheep).

Answer 32

False, the semiarid grassland of the Sahel has natural pasture, with low-growing grass and tall herbaceous perennials.

Question 33

T/F The landscape of the Sahel is from the savanna type.

Answer 33

False, it is similar

Question 34

The ___________ is a transitional region between rainforest and the Sahel grassland.

Answer 34

Savanna

Question 35

The Sahel region tends to merge into desert because of ______________ and ______________.

Answer 35

human activities, climate change

Question 36

T/F The African savanna region is a tropical grassland with few trees and shrubs.

Answer 36

True

Question 37

T/F The African savanna region is a tropical grassland with abundant trees and shrubs.

Answer 37

False

Question 38

___________ is a woody plant smaller than a tree and has a very short stem with branches near the ground.

Answer 38

Shrub

Question 39

The trees in the Savanna region are _______________ trees.

Answer 39

drought resistant

Question 40

T/F The tree and shrub species in the savanna never shed their leaves.

Answer 40

False, they usually shed their leaves during the dry season.

Question 41

The shedding of the leaves is an __________________ process of the trees to the all year-round hot temperature of the Savanna.

Answer 41

adaptation

Question 42

The shedding of the leaves is an adaptation process that _______________________.

Answer 42

reduces water loss from the plants.

Question 43

Based on vegetation types, the Savanna region has ________ important parts

Answer 43

two

Question 44

The Savanna region has two important parts – ____________ and __________________ Savanna.

Answer 44

Woodland, thorn tree tall grass

Question 45

In Savana ______________, the trees are widely spaced because there is not enough soil moisture during the dry season to support a full tree cover

Answer 45

woodland

Question 46

The open spacing of Savana woodland lets a dense lower layer where _______________ develop.

Answer 46

grasses

Question 47

The Savana _______________ has an open, park-like appearance.

Answer 47

woodland

Question 48

In the ________________ of Africa, the trees are of medium height.

Answer 48

tropical savanna woodland

Question 49

_________________ are flattened or umbrella-shaped, and the trunks have thick, rough bark.

Answer 49

Tree crowns

Question 50

Some species of trees are ________________ – adapted to the dry environment with small leaves and thorns

Answer 50

xerophytic forms

Question 51

Others trees of the tropical savanna woodland are _________________ species that shed their leaves in the dry season.

Answer 51

broad-leaved deciduous

Question 52

T/F Fires occur frequently in the savanna woodland all-year round, but the tree species are mostly fire resistant.

Answer 52

False, it only happens during the dry season

Question 53

___________________ occur both to the north and south of the Equator.

Answer 53

Tropical rainforests

Question 54

The rainforests near the equator are known as _________________.

Answer 54

equatorial rainforests

Question 55

_______________ are very diverse and contain large number of plant and animal species.

Answer 55

Equatorial rainforests

Question 56

Flora is highly diverse in the equatorial rainforests where a square kilometer may contain as many as ______ different tree species as compared to ___ or ____ in the temperate zone.

Answer 56

100, 3 or 4

Question 57

____________________ dominate the vegetation cover of equatorial rainforests.

Answer 57

Broadleaf evergreen trees

Question 58

Six African countries makeup the ________________ of the Tropical Rainforest.

Answer 58

Congo Basin

Question 59

The six African countries that make up the Congo Basin are:

Answer 59

Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea

Question 60

Other areas where the rainforest is found include; 3.

Answer 60

Ghana, Ivory Coast and Madagascar

Question 61

The various trees of the tropical rain forests are closely spaced together and form a thick continuous canopy some ________ to ________ meters tall.

Answer 61

25 to 35

Question 62

Sometimes the canopy of the tropical rainforest is interrupted by the presence of very tall trees (up to _____ meters) that have wide buttressed bases for support.

Answer 62

40

Question 63

Most plants are ______________ with large, dark green, leathery leaves.

Answer 63

evergreen

Question 64

Epiphytic and herbaceous plants as well as, vines (lianas) and ferns are very characteristic of the _.

Answer 64

tropical rainforest

Question 65

T/F The rainforest climate is wet all the year or it has a long dry season.

Answer 65

False, it has a short dry season

Question 66

Annual rainfall of the tropical rainforest, which exceeds _ to _ millimeters, is evenly distributed throughout the year.

Answer 66

2000 to 2250

Question 67

T/F In tropical rainforests, temperature and humidity are relatively low throughout the year.

Answer 67

False, they are high

Question 68

T/F Decomposition is rapid in the tropical rainforests because of high temperature and low moisture.

Answer 68

False, they're both high

Question 69

Meanwhile, due to the frequent and heavy rainfall in the area, tropical soils are subject to extreme _ and _.

Answer 69

chemical weathering and leaching

Question 70

These environmental conditions also make tropical soils _ and _.

Answer 70

acidic, nutrient poor.

Question 71

The Rift Valley of East Africa was formed by _.

Answer 71

normal faulting

Question 72

_ was formed as the land stretched by forces moving in _ direction creating rupture and splitting apart the land in between.

Answer 72

The Rift Valley of East Africa, opposite

Question 73

Normal faulting creates an area called -.

Answer 73

graben

Question 74

_ is an elongated block of the earth’s crust lying between two faults and displaced downward relative to the blocks on either side in a rift valley.

Answer 74

Graben

Question 75

_ begins from the Red Sea and extends through the Ethiopian landmass to the Lake Victorian region where it subdivides into an east and west segment and continues southward through Lake Malawi to Mozambique.

Answer 75

The Rift Valley of East Africa

Question 76

The total length of The Rift Valley of East Africa is estimated to be _ km.

Answer 76

5,600

Question 77

The average width of the Rift Valley System ranges between _ km and _ km.

Answer 77

32 and 80

Question 78

_ are series of lakes in the East African Rift valley that runs through eastern Africa from Ethiopia in the north to Malawi in the south, and includes the African Great Lakes in the south.

Answer 78

The Rift Valley lakes

Question 79

The Rift Valley lakes are series of lakes in the East African Rift valley that run through eastern Africa from _ in the north to _ in the south, and includes the African Great Lakes in the south.

Answer 79

Ethiopia, Malawi

Question 80

Many of the Rift Valley lakes are _ lake with great biodiversity in them, while others are _ or _lakes.

Answer 80

freshwater, alkaline or salty

Question 81

The _ lakes are the northernmost of the African Rift Valley lakes.

Answer 81

Ethiopian Rift Valley

Question 82

In central Ethiopia, the _ , also known as the _ , splits the Ethiopian highlands into northwestern and southeastern halves, and the Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes occupy the floor of the rift valley between the two highlands.

Answer 82

Main Ethiopian Rift, Great Rift Valley

Question 83

Lake Victoria lies at an elevation of _ meters above sea level

Answer 83

1,134

Question 84

Lake Victoria has an area of _ square kilometers

Answer 84

68,800

Question 85

_ is the largest lake in Africa.

Answer 85

Lake Victoria

Question 86

T/F Lake Victoria is an example of a Rift Valley lake

Answer 86

False, It is not in the rift valley, but instead occupies a depression between the eastern and western rifts formed by the uplift of the rifts to either side.

Question 87

_ has some of the most spectacular scenery in Africa.

Answer 87

Ethiopia

Question 88

Ethiopia is set on a _ plateau.

Answer 88

high

Question 89

Ethiopia has a massive central highland complex of mountains divided by the deep _.

Answer 89

Great Rift Valley

Question 90

T/F Ethiopia has a series of highlands along the periphery (edges) of the higher elevations.

Answer 90

False, it has lowlands

Question 91

The wide diversity of terrain in Ethiopia produces regional variations in: 4

Answer 91

climate, natural vegetation, soil composition, and settlement patterns.

Question 92

Ethiopia’s northwestern highlands extend into _, reaching elevations of more than _ meters above sea level.

Answer 92

Eritrea, 2,000

Question 93

_ shares the northeast section of the Ethiopian high plateau, which in appearance looks more like a set of rugged uneven mountains.

Answer 93

Eritrea

Question 94

The plateau, also known as the _, rise on the western scarp of the Great Rift Valley and projects northward from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to the Red Sea coastline in Eritrea and descends to the Red Sea coast in a series of hills.

Answer 94

Northwestern Highlands