Africa

The second-largest continent, lying south of Europe between the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Africa has vast mineral resources, many of which are still undeveloped.The second-largest continent, lying south of Europe between the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Africa has vast mineral resources, many of which are still undeveloped.Most of Africa is a series of stable, ancient plateau surfaces, low in the north and west and higher in the south and east. The plateau is composed mainly of metamorphic rock that has been overlaid in places by sedimentary rock. The escarpment of the plateau is often in close proximity to the coast, thus leaving the continent with a generally narrow coastal plain; in addition, the escarpment forms barriers of falls and rapids in the lower courses of rivers that impede their use as transportation routes into the interior. Northern Africa is underlain by folded sedimentary rock and is, geologically, more closely related to Europe than to the rest of the continent of Africa; the Atlas Mts., which occupy most of the region, are a part of the Alpine mountain system of southern Europe. The entire African continent is surrounded by a narrow continental shelf. The lowest point on the continent is 509 ft below sea level in Lake Assal in Djibouti the highest point is Mt. a peak of Kilimanjaro in NE Tanzania. From north to south the principal mountain ranges of Africa are the Atlas Mts.