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THE GREAT RIFT VALLEY OF AFRICA
The great rift valley of Africa starts from Jordan in the Middle East ends at Beira in Mozambique.
The Rift Valley was formed by the process of faulting and by the help of either Tensional or compressional forces.
The faults occurred as a result of disturbances in the earth’s crust.
The highest floor of the rift valley is found around L.Kivu and the lowest is around L.Tanganyika.
Scarps/escarpments are steep sides of the rift valley.
Scarps are a problem to people who live in a rift valley because they make it difficult to built roads.
The four arms of the great rift valley of Africa:
a) The Ethiopian Rift Valley
- It enters Ethiopia from Red sea.
- It has L.Abaya and Danakil depression.
b)The Western Rift Valley
- It runs through Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania.
- It has lakes like; L. George, L.Albert, L. Edward, L.Kivu and L.Tanganyika.
c)The Eastern Rift Valley
- It runs through Kenya and Tanzania.
- It has lakes like, Turkana, Nakuru, Natron, Manyara, Magadi, Eyasi, e.t.c.
d)The Malawian Rift Valley
It runs through Malawi to Mozambique. The lake in this arm is L. Malawi.
Human activities carried in the Rift valley:
- Farming
- Fishing
- Tourism
- Mining
MAP OF AFRICA SHOWING THE GREAT RIFT VALLEY
THE COASTAL PLAIN
It is a low lying region near the coasts of Africa.
The coast is a narrow strip of land between the ocean and the land.
Some parts of coastal plain have an altitude of 250m above the sea level.
Some plains are wide especially in Eastern Africa and West Africa.
The coastline of Africa is generally regular and narrow.
The African coasts have few natural harbours because the land slopes up gently to the shore.
Or because it is regular and narrow.
Natural harbours occur in where there are inlets into the land which form bays.
A bay is part of the sea partly surrounded by a curve of land.
The West African coast has many lagoons because it is indented/irregular..
A lagoon is a lake formed when sea water is separated by sand or mud.
Cities like Lagos in Nigeria, Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire and Durban in South Africa were built on islands in lagoons. Lagoons are also found in the Nile delta The coasts of Africa have coral reefs.
- Coral reefs are rocks formed by remains of Dead Sea creatures found at the bottom of the sea.
- Coral reefs are used to make cement and attract tourists.
- They are dangerous to water transport because they damage ships
- They also make it difficult for ships to enter the harbour easily
- The economic activities done in the coastal plains.
Farming-crops like cloves,oilpalm, rubber, sugarcane, vines which produce grapes for making wine, etc are grown. Mining- e.g. oil
- Fishing especially marine fish.
- Shipping services.
- Trade.
- Oil refining.