Physical Geography of SubSaharan Africa
Physical Processes
©2012, TESCCC
World Geography Unit 9, Lesson 1
Great Rift Valley
• Continuous trench that
runs from Southwest
Asia (Syria) to southeast
Africa (Mozambique).
• Caused by tectonic
forces –divergent plate
boundaries splitting the
African plate.
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Mount Kilimanjaro
• A dormant volcano,
highest peak in Africa
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Congo Basin
• Tropical rainforest
located in central Africa
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Serengeti
• Wildebeest crossing,
located in Tanzania and
Kenya
• Huge savanna- a
tropical or subtropical
grassland
• “Endless Plain”, large
diversity of plants and
animals
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Lake Victoria
• Largest lake in Africa, largest
tropical lake in the world,
and second largest fresh
water lake in the world
• Formed from a depression
in a late ice age, then later
formed when westwardflowing rivers were
dammed by an upthrown
crustal block about 400,000
years ago, primarily filled
today through precipitation
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Ethiopian Highlands
• Rugged mass of
mountains, Ethiopia,
Somalia, Horn of Africa.
• Large plateau, created
by tectonic forces 75
million years ago
• Temperate climate due
to its location
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Kalahari Desert
• Large semi-arid sandy
savanna in Southern
Africa
• Covers Namibia,
Botswana, and South
Africa
• Formed due to
continentiality
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Namib Desert
• Coastal desert in
southern Africa, Nambia,
Angola, South Africa,
• Oldest desert in the
world, almost totally
uninhabited.
• Formed due to effects of
ocean currents
preventing the formation
of clouds, mountains, and
hot air from the east
©2012, TESCCC