Activity 5: 
Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Faults in Africa Using Published Maps

Map of East Africa showing some of the historically active volcanoes (red triangles) and the Afar Triangle (shaded, center) -- a so-called triple junction (or triple point), where three plates are pulling away from one another: the Arabian Plate, and the two parts of the African Plate (the Nubian and the Somalian) splitting along the East African Rift Zone.  

In East Africa, spreading processes have already torn Saudi Arabia away from the rest of the African continent, forming the Red Sea. The actively splitting African Plate and the Arabian Plate meet in what geologists call a triple junction, where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden. A new spreading center may be developing under Africa along the East African Rift Zone. When the continental crust stretches beyond its limits, tension cracks begin to appear on the Earth's surface. Magma rises and squeezes through the widening cracks, sometimes to erupt and form volcanoes. The rising magma, whether or not it erupts, puts more pressure on the crust to produce additional fractures and, ultimately, the rift zone.  
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/understanding.html 

In this exercise, you will examine the location of earthquakes and volcanoes in relationship to faults in Africa. You will also look at the impact on countries in Africa.

Note: New ArcView instructions will be explained in this Exercise.  Please refer to activities 1 through 4 for instructions you've already completed.

Project Steps
Sources Sources used in this assignment:

Rand McNally Classroom Atlas.  1997.  IBSN 528-17729-X. 

Rand McNally Goode's World Atlas.  1995.  19th Edition.  LC Catalog Card Number
94-68645. 

World Geography Today.  1997.  Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.   Austin:  Harcourt Brace and Brace and Company.       ISBN     0-03-016802-3. 
  
Step 1 Examine the following maps:

From the Classroom Atlas: 

Africa political map, page 75. 
Africa physical map, page 74.
 
From Goode's World Atlas: 

Plate tectonics map and discussion, pages 8 and 9.
Population density map, page 207, lower left.

The following map of recent eruptions:


The following table of recent eruptions:

Step 2 Answer the questions below.
Questions
 
Question 1 Which volcano in Africa last erupted?
 
 
 
Question 2 Are the volcanoes in Africa located near plate boundaries or faults? 
 
 
 
 
Question 3 Which country in Africa has the most historic volcanoes? 
 
 
 
Question 4 Which country in Africa has the most recent volcanoes and is most at risk from volcanoes that may erupt in the future? 
 
 
 
 
 
Question 5 What areas in Africa have high population densities and also have some risk from earthquakes and volcanoes? 
 
 
 
 
 

Back to Africa Lesson Index

U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey
Rocky Mountain Mapping Center
URL:http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/outreach/africa/act5non.html
Last modified:   16 December 2003