Build of South Africa And Aerial View

Question 1

How would you describe the build of South Africa?

Answer 1

From the coastal plain in the east of South Africa, the land rises steeply to the escarpment and some high mountain ranges. The land then levels out onto a flat plateau that slowly slopes downwards to the coastal plain in the west.

Question 2

Define a coastal plain.

Answer 2

Low flat land near the sea

Question 3

What is the escarpment?

Answer 3

Steep land that separates low-lying land e.g. Coastal plains from land that is high above sea level.

Question 4

What is a plateau?

Answer 4

An area of flat land that is high above sea level e.g. The highveld near Johannesburg

Question 5

Which provinces in South Africa have a coastline?

Answer 5

Northern Cape
Western Cape
Eastern Cape
Kwa-Zulu Natal

Question 6

What kind of build covers most of South Africa?

Answer 6

Plateau

Question 7

Name four physical features of a landscape

Answer 7

Mountains, hills, rivers, valleys, waterfalls, coastlines, capes and bays.

Question 8

How do Geographers measure height of physical features such as mountains?

Answer 8

Measure how high the feature is from the level where the sea meets the land I.e. Sea level. For example Thabana Ntlenyana is 3482m above sea level.

Question 9

Name three features that occur at sea level

Answer 9

Capes, bays, river mouths …

Question 10

Name any three physical features that occur above sea level

Answer 10

Mountains, hills, valleys, River sources, waterfalls ….

Question 11

What does a physical map of a country tell us?

Answer 11

It tells us the build of the country, how high the different parts of the country are above sea level. It tells us about its mountains, valleys, plains, rivers and other physical features.

Question 12

What words would Geographers use to describe the build of the land?

Answer 12

Flat, hilly, mountainous, steep, high and low.

Coastal plain, escarpment, plateaus.

Question 13

What is the shape of the escarpment in South Africa?

Answer 13

It is the shape of a horseshoe.

Question 14

Name three of the mountain ranges in South Africa.

Answer 14

Drakensberg, Cedarberg, Hottentots Holland, Swartberg, Kamiesberg, Roggeveldberg ….

Question 15

What is the source of a river?

Answer 15

It is the beginning of a river which is usually in high mountains where rain collects or a lake which is high above sea level or even an underground spring where water bubbles to the surface.

Question 16

Where does a river end and what is that called?

Answer 16

A river ends in the sea. Where the river and the sea meet is called the river mouth.

Question 17

What is the name of the rivers that join a main river?

Answer 17

Tributaries

Question 18

What is the name of the main river and its tributaries?

Answer 18

River system

Question 19

Complete the sentence. The area of land where rain water runs off into a river system is called a _______________ or a ____________.

Answer 19

The area of land where rain water runs off into a river system is called a catchment area or a drainage basin.

Question 20

What is a river?

Answer 20

A channel of fresh water that flows towards an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river.

Question 21

Are rivers important? Explain your answer.

Answer 21

Yes rivers are important because they carry water to farms, factories, towns and cities. Large rivers are used to transport goods and people.

Question 22

What is a river delta?

Answer 22

At the river mouth some rivers separate into smaller rivers; this fan-shaped area is called a river delta.

Question 23

Name the two main river systems in South Africa.

Answer 23

The Gariep-Orange river system which flows west from the Drakensberg towards the Atlantic Ocean and
the Limpopo River system which flows easterly towards the Indian Ocean.

Question 24

What is unusual about the rivers of the Kalahari?

Answer 24

They are marked with a dotted line on maps because they are seasonal, in other words they only have water flowing after heavy rainfall.

Question 25

What is a Cape and what is a Bay?

Answer 25

A Cape is where the land juts out into the sea.

A Bay is where the coastline curves into the land.

Question 26

Give three examples of how physical features of a land impact the type of activity humans will be doing on that land.

Answer 26

If humans are living on land near the sea, they may have jobs catching and selling fish or making boats.
If humans are living on flat land, they own or work on farms suitable for flat land such a cattle farming.
If humans are living on mountainous land, they own or work on farms suitable for mountainous land such as rice farming or they may work on mines.

Question 27

Name two ways that human activity has changed physical features of a land.

Answer 27

Humans have built roads across plateaus and tunnels through mountains to transport people and goods.
Humans have built dams to generate electricity in catchment areas in the high land areas. Dams can change the shape of a river and take up land that people used to live on.