UNIT 3. THE RELIEF OF THE CONTINENTS.

PHYSICAL MAP OF THE CONTINENTS:AFRICA

Africa is the thrid largest continent, with a surface of more than 30 million square kilometres or a 20% of the Earh's surface.

Continental relief.

About a 50% of the African relief is occupied by plateaus and a few plains. 

We can distinguish several types of landforms in the african relief:

• Old massifs inside the plateaus: Ahaggar Mountains, Tibesti Mountains and Marrah Mountains.

Ahaggar mountains.

• Depressions: Niger Basin, Chad Basin, Congo Basin.
• Mountain ranges: Atlas Mountains and Drakensberg Mountains.

Atlas Mountains timelapse

• The Rift Valley a huge fracture of volcanic origin which include depressions fill with water and volcanoes such as mounts Kenya and Kilimanajaro.

Toubkal mountain, with a heigh of more than 4.100 meters is the highest peak of the Atlas Mountains. File: Tiz'n'Toubkal.jpg User: Kobersky License: CC BY-SA 2.5)

Drakensberg mountains. https://pixabay.com/es/users/sandrapetersen-1630624/

Tugela Falls located in the Drakensberg Mountains. The Tugela Falls is the second highest waterfall (cascada) in the world.

Rift Valley

Mount Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro

Continental relief of Africa.

Seas, lakes and rivers.

There are several lakes of two types:

• located in basins (Victoria, Chad).
• located in fractures in the terrain (Albert, Tanganyka and Malawi).

Victoria Falls

African rivers are very long and carry a high volume of water. The main rivers are: the Nile (the longest river in the world with 6.670 km), the Niger, the Congo, the Zambezi and Orange.

Egypt as seen from space at night. More than a 90% of the population of Egypt lives along the Nile's river valley, because of this, Egypt has been called since ancient times "a gift from the Nile".

Lake Victoria, with a surface of 68.000 square kilometres is the biggest lake in Africa. It is one of the sources of the Nile River.

About the coast the main feature are:

• Islands: Madagascar.
• Peninsulas: Somalia.
• Gulfs: Gabes, Guinea and Benguela.
• Capes: Good Hope, Aguilhas and Guardafui.

LINKS:

Continental relief of Africa review game.

Rivers and lakes of Africa review game.

Coastal relief of Africa review game.

ACTIVITIES.

1. Identify the following african rivers and landforms of the coastal relief:

1. __  __  __  __

2. __  __  __  __  __.

3. __  __  __  __  __.

4. __  __  __  __  __  __  __.

5. __  __  __  __  __  __  __.

6. __  __  __  __  __  __.

7. __  __  __  __        __  __  __  __.

2. HANGMAN.

And old massif located in Africa.
__  __  __  __  __  __  __     
__  __  __  __  __  __  __  __  __ 
The highest peak of Africa.
__  __  __  __  __  __  __  __  __  __  __. 

An african lake located in a basin.
__  __  __  __  __  __  __  __

A river located in the southern part of Africa.
__  __  __  __  __  __

3. COMPLETE THE BLANK SPACES.

With an A	A mountain range located in the North of Africa
With a B	A  gulf located in the west coast of Africa
With a C	An african lake located in a basin.
With a D	A big mountain range located in the southern part of Africa.
With an A	A cape located in the southern part of Africa.
With a G	An cape located in eastern part of Africa.
With a G	A huge gulf located in the west of Africa
Constains an H	A cape located in the southern part of Africa. Has a hopeful name.
Contains an H	An old massif located in the north of Africa.
Contains an I	An African lake located in a fracture of the terrain
With  a K	The highest mountain in Africa
With an L	An important river of Africa
With an M	A huge island located in the eastern part of Africa.
With an M	An african lake located in a fracture of the terrain.
With an N	The longest river in the world. It is located in Africa
With a N	A big river located in western part of Africa
With anO	A big river located in the southern part of Africa. There is a fruit that has the same name.
With an R	A long fracture of volcanic origin located in the east of Africa
Contains an O	A huge river located in the center of Africa.
With a T	And old mountain range (massif) located in the north of Africa.
With an Z	A river located in the southern part of Africa

 

You can find the answer here.

PHYSICAL MAP OF THE CONTINENTS: AMERICA.

America is the second largest continent. It has a size of more than 42 million square kilometers and represent almost a 29% of the Earth's surface.
Location: is located between the Glacial Artic, Glacial Antartic, an Pacific Oceans.
Limits: It is separated from Asia by the Bering Strait
Can be divided into two subcontinents: North America and South America, linked by the Panama Itshmus.

Continental relief.

We can distinguish three types of terrain in the American continent:

• In the west there are several mountain ranges that runs from north to south for more than 12. 000 km: the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Madre, Andes.

Summit of the Aconcagua

• In the center of the continent a serie of huge plains which are crossed by the big rivers: in the North the Great American Plains, in the South the Amazon Basin and the Pampas.
• In the east appears, a chain of massifs: the Canadian Shield, the Appalachian Mountains and the Guiana Shield.

Rocky mountains. Canada.

Great Smoky Mountains, a part of the Appalachian Mountains.

The Great Plains. Archivo: Great Plains, Nebraska, U.S. 1.jpg Autor: https://www.flickr.com/photos/blamfoto Licencia: CC BY 2.0

Rocky Mountains, Canada.

Great Plains.

Appalachian Mountains.

Coastal relief and rivers.

American rivers are long and carry a high volume of water. We can distinguish between the north american rivers and the south american rivers:

• North America: Yukon, Mackenzie, St. Lawrence, Missouri, Mississippi and Rio Grande.
• South America: Orinoco, Parana and Amazonas. 

About the coast in North America are broken up by:

•  several peninsulas (Alaska, Labrador, Nova Scotia, Florida, California and Yucatán).
• gulfs: Hudson Bay and Gulf of Mexico 

In South America they are straighter, but we can find many capes: Sao Roque, Cape Horn.

The main islands are Greenland, Victoria, Baffin, Newfounland, the Aleutians Islands, the Antilles and Tierra de Fuego.

Rivers and islands of America.

The main lakes are:
in North America, the Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Eire, Ontario).
in South America, Titicaca.

Coastal relief of North America.

Florida Peninsula.

Links:

Continental relief of North America review game.
Continental relief of South America review game (WARNING: You only have to be able to identify the Pampa, the Andes mountain range and the Guyana Highlands (Guyana shield), the rest of the landforms which appears in the game are NOT going to be a part of the next exam.
Rivers and lakes of North America review game

Rivers and lakes of South America review game (WARNING: You only have to be able to identify the Amazon, Orinoco and Parana rivers and the Titicaca lake, the rest of the landforms which appears in the game are NOT going to be a part of the next exam.
Coastal relief of North America review game.
Coastal relief of South America review game
Aprender sociales: South America relief games.

Activities:

1. Identify the name of the landforms that appears in the map (please: try to do it without using your book or your notes.

GAME REVIEW UNIT 2. AND 3.

With an A	A mountain range located in the North of Africa
With a B	A huge gulf located between the Deccan Peninsula and the Indochinese peninsula.
With a C	A a steep bowl-shaped depression which form the head of the glacier.
With a D	A salt lake located in Asia
With an E	The highest peak of Asia
With an F	A peninsula located in North America
With a G	An large accumulation of frozen water.
With a G	A huge gulf located in the west of Africa
With a H	The combination of all the waters to be found in Earth.
With an H	A huge gulf located in North America
Contains an I	An African lake located in a fracture of the terrain
With  a K	A big peninsula located in the east of Asia
With an L	An river located in the northern part of Asia
With an L	An important river of Africa
With a M	Movement of large masses of water through the oceans.
With an M	One of the most importar rivers of North America
With an M	Another river located in North America
With an N	The longest river in the world. It is located in Africa
With an O	A sea located in the east of Asia
With a P	One of the most important rivers in South America.
With a P	A big plain located in South America
With a P	A gulf located between the Arabian Peninsula and the Zagros Mountains
With an R	One of the atmospheric elements that explain the modification of the relief.
With an R	A long fracture of volcanic origin located in the east of Africa
With an S	The accumulation of eroded materials in specific areas.
With a T	The most important river in South America
With a T	The rise and fall of the sea level caused by the Moon.
Contains a T	A narrow extension of ice projecting from the glacier cirque.
With a  U	A mountain range located between Asia and Europe.
Contains an X	A gulf located in North America
With a Y	One of the longest rivers in Asia
With a W	Undulating movement on the sea´s surface caused by the wind.
With an Z	A mountain range located near the Persian Gulf

You can find the solutions here.

PHYSICAL MAP OF THE CONTINENTS: ASIA.

General characteristics:

• Asia is the largest continent with a size of about 43 million square kilometers or  29% of the surface of the Earth.
• Asia is limited by the Glacial Artic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
• Is separated from Europe by the Ural Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea.
• From Africa by the Red Sea and the Sinai Peninsula.
• From America by the Bering Strait.

Continental relief.

The main features of the asian continental relief are:

• Plains: Western Siberian Plain, Indochina Plain and Indian Plain.
• Depressions: Aral, Caspian and Dead Seas.
• Plateaus located in the central and peripheral regions: Anatolian, Iranian, Tibetan, Siberian, Deccan and Arabian Plateaus.
• Mountain ranges: young mountains such as the Zagros Mountains and the Himalayas.

Asian continental relief.

Putorana plateuau, a part of the Western Siberian Plateau. Olga Chuma CC BY-SA 3.0

 

Ama Dablam, one of the highest peaks of the Himalayas.

 

Japanese archipielago.

 

The Korean Peninsula seen from space. File: Korean Peninsula Author: ESA License: CC BY-SA 3.0

 

 

 

 

The TIbetan Plateau is located next to the Himalayas.

Tibetan Plateau. The Tibetan Plateau is the largest and highest in the world witha an average height of about 4.500 meters and a surface of 2,5 million square kilometers.

Coastal relief.

The main features of the asian coastal relief are:

• Peninsulas: Kamchatka, Korean, Indochinese, Malay, Deccan, Arabian and Anatolian.
• Gulfs: Persian, Bay of Bengal, Thailand and Tonkin. 
• Islands: Sri Lanka.
• Archipielagos: Japan, Philippnes and Indonesian.

Peninsulas of Asia.

Archipielagos and gulfs of Asia.

Seas, river and lakes.

The main seas of Asia are the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Kara Sea, the Bering Sea, the South China Sea, the Arabian Sea and Read Sea.
The Asian rivers are long and carry a high volume of water. The main rivers are: Yangtze (5.800 kilometers), the Ob, the Yenisei, the Lena, the Huang He, the Mekong, the Amur, the Ganges and the Indus.

About the lakes we can distinguish:

• saltwater lakes: Caspian Sea, Aral Sea, Dead Sea.
• freshwater lakes: Lake Baikal

Baikal Lake frozen.

Road over the frozen Lena river. File: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lena_River_Ice_Road.jpg Author: https://www.flickr.com/people/61591788@N00

The Lena river during the summer. File: Lena River in Biakal-Lena Zapovednik Author:
Яхин Василий  CC BY-SA 4.0

The Huang-He's lower course. It is known also as the Yellow river due to the large amount of sediments and sand that the river carries. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Yellow_river_-_A._Holdrinet.jpg User: André Holdrinet. CC BY-SA 3.0

Japanese archipielago, one of the most important archipielagos of Asia.

The indonesian archipelago is the biggest in the world with more than 17.000 islands.

LINKS:

WARNING: Don't worry, if you are not able to identify all the landforms in these games. In the exam there will be only questions about the landforms that we have seen in class.

Continental relief of Asia
Asian rivers and lakes review game.
Asian coasts review game
Didactalia. Asian continental relief.
Didactalia. Asian rivers and lakes.
Review game about the main mountain ranges, rivers, lakes and seas of Asia.

ACTIVITIES:

Please, try NOT TO USE your book or notes in order to do this activties.

1. BLANK MAP

1.   __  __
2.  __  __  __  __  __  __  __
3. __  __  __  __
4. __  __  __  __  __  __
5. __  __  __  __
6. __  __  __  __  __  __  __
7. __  __  __  __  __        __  __
8. __  __  __  __  __  __  __  __
9. __  __  __  __  __  __
10. __  __  __  __  __
11. __  __  __  __        __  __  __
12. __  __  __  __  __  __  __        __  __  __

22. HANGMAN.

Huge gulf located between the Deccan Peninsula and the Indochinese Peninsula.

__  __  __     __  __    __  __  __  __  __  __.

A huge plateau located between the Deccan Peninsula and the rest of Asia.

__  __  __  __  __  __  __        __  __  __  __  __  __  __

A big península located in the East of Asia, next to the Japanese archipiélago.

__  __  __  __  __  __     __  __  __  __  __  __  __  __  __

A sea located between Asia and America.

__  __  __  __  __  __        __  __  __.

3. BLANK MAP.

PHYSICAL MAP OF THE CONTINENTS: EUROPE.

Location and limits.

Europe its the fifth largest continent with a surface of about 10 million square kilometers or a 7 per cent of the Earth's surface.

Location: is located between the Atlantic Ocean, the Artic Glacial Ocean, Asia and Africa.

It is separated from Asia by the  Ural Mountains, the River Ural, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus and the Black Sea.

It is separated from Africa by the Mediterranean Sea.

Continental relief.

We can distinguish several types of relief:

• The Great European Plain. A huge plain that runs from Atlantic coast of France to the Ural Mouantins and it is triangular shaped.

Great European Plain, near Moscow.

• Several plateaus and massifs located in the north and the centre of Europe:

1. Plateaus: Finland, Sweeden.
2. Massifs: Scandivnavian Mountains, Ural Mountains, the Central Massif, the Jura and the Vosges.

Norway, 4K

Flying over the Ural Mountains.

• A chain of young mountain ranges located in the south of the continent: Pyrenees, Alps, Apennines, Dinaric Alps, Balkans, Carphatian Mountains, Caucasus.

The Alps.

Tatra mountains, a part of the Carpathian mountains.

Mont-blanc, one of the highest mountains in Europe.

Caucasus.

Mountain ranges of Eufope from space. File: A united Europe from space Author: ESA (European Space Agency). License: CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

 

 

 

European rivers and lakes.

We can distinguish between the rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean and the rivers that flow into the Mediterranean, Black or Caspian Seas:

• Atlantic: Tagus, Garonne, Loire, Seine, Thames, Rhine and Elbe.
• Mediterranean:  Rhone, Tiber, Po; Black Sea; Danube, Dnieper, Don; Caspian: Volga and Ural.

European coasts and seas.

European coasts are very uneven and we can distinguish numerous:

• capes: North Cape, Finisterre, Cape St. Vincent.
• gulfs: Gulf of Finland, Gulf of Bothnia, Bay of Biscay, Gulf of Lion, Gulf of Genoa.
• peninsulas: Jutland, Iberian, Italian, Britanny and Balkan

The main islands and archipielagos are:

• islands: Iceland, Ireland, Great Britain, Sicily, etc.
• archipielagos: Madeira, Balearic and Canary islands.

Capes, gulfs and peninsulas of Europe. File: A united Europe from space Author: ESA (European Space Agency). License: CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Links:
Interactive game. European relief review.

Activities:

You can find the solutions here.

1. Identify the following landforms of the european, antarctic and oceanic relief:

With an A	A young mountain range located between the Italian peninsula and the rest of Europe.
With an A	A cape located in the Antarctic continent.
With a B	A big peninsula located in the south of Europe.
With a B	A young mountain range located in the Balkan Peninsula.
With a C	A peninsula located at north of Australia
With a D	One of the largest river in Europe. It flows into the Black Sea
With an E	The highest peak in Europe
With an F	A gulf located in the Baltic Sea
With a G	A gulf located next to the Italian peninsula
With a G	A huge plain that occupy most of the eastern europe.
With a G	A huge mountain range located in the eastern part of Australia.
Contains an H	A young mountain range located in the eastern part of Europe
With an H	A mountain range located in the western part of Australia
With an I	A big península located in the south of Europe. It has the shape of a boot.
With an I	An island located next to the western coast of the European continent. It is known as the “emerald island”.
With an J	An old massif located in the western part of Europe.
With a M	And old massif located in the western part of Europe
With an M	A mountain range located in the center of Australia
With an M	Another river located in Oceania
With an N	A sea located between Great Britain and the Scandinavian Peninsula.
With a P	A river located in the Italian peninsula
Contains a P	A river that flows into the Black Sea
With an R	A important european river that flows into the North Sea located between the rivers Seine and Elbe.
With an R	A sea located in the Antarctic continent
With an S	A river located in the western part of Europe. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean
With a T	A sea located between New Zealand and Australia
With a T	The largest river of the Iberian Peninsula
With a  U	A mountain range located between Asia and Europe.
With a V	The highest peak of the Antarctica continent.
With an V	The longest river in Europe. It flows into the Caspian Sea.

  

2. Identify the landforms highlighted in these maps.

3. HANGMAN.

And old massif located in the Scandinavian Peninsula.

__  __  __  __  __  __  __  __  __  __  __  __        __  __  __  __  __  __  __  __  __

The highest peak in Europe.

__  __  __  __  __  __.

A big european island located in the Mediterranean Sea and triangular shaped.

__  __  __  __  __  __.

A gulf located between the Iberian Peninsula and the Britanny península.

__  __  __    __  __    __  __  __  __  __  __

A cape located in the northern of the Scandinavian Peninsula.

__  __  __  __    __  __  __  __  __

A sea located between the Italian Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula.

__  __  __  __  __  __  __  __    __  __  __

A river located in the italian península which flows into the Tyrrhenian sea.

__  __  __  __  __    __  __  __  __  __O     r  

Extenal links:

Review game european relief.

PHYSICAL MAP OF THE CONTINENTS. ANTARCTICA AND OCEANIA.

Antarctica.

Antarctica is the fourth largest continent, covering more than 13 thousand million square kilometres.
Location: in the southern hemisphere, surrounded by the Antarctic Ocean.

Comparision of the areas of Europe and Antarctica.

Continental relief.

Is the continent with the highest average altitude, almost 2.600 metres.

The most important landforms are:

• The Ellsworh Mountains, in which is located the highest peak, Vinson Massif.
• The Antarctic Peninsula.
• The Cape Adare.

Video: Antarctica from the summit of the VInson Massif

Vinson Massif.

Ice and seas.

A layer of ice cover most of the continent with a thickness of 2000.

Beardmore Glacier.

The main seas are the Weddell Sea and the Ross Sea.

Antarctica relief.

Antarctic coasts.

Oceania.

It is the smallest continent with almost 9 million square kilometres.

Location: in the Pacific Ocean. It is composed of:

• Large islands (Australia and the North and South Islands of New Zealand)
• Several archipielagos:

1. Melanesia.
2. Micronesia.
3. Polynesia.

Continental relief

Australia.
The most important features of the relief are: the MacDonnell Ranges, Hamersley Range and the Great Dividing Range.

Landforms of the australian relief.

Blue Mountains, Great Dividing Range.

Great Dividing Range, eastern slopes.

Great Dividing Range, western slopes.

Glen Helen Gorge, Macdonnel Range.

Ayers Rock.

New Zealand and the rest of the islands.
Mountanious or volcanic terrain. The most important feature is the Southern Alps.

Southern alps, New Zealand.

Coastal relief:

Peninsulas: the Cape York Peninsula
Gulf: Gulf of Carpentaria.

Seas, lakes and rivers.

The most important sea in Oceania is the Tasman Sea.

The most important lake is Lake Eyre in Australia.

The most important rivers are the Darling and the Murray.

Lakes and rivers of Oceania

Lake Eyre empty.

Lake Eyre full of wáter.