South Cameroon Plateau
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The South Cameroon Plateau or Southern Cameroon Plateau (french: Plateau Sud-Camerounais) is the dominant geographical feature of
Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
. The plateau lies south of the
Adamawa Plateau The Adamawa Plateau (french: Massif de l'Adamaoua) is a plateau region in west-central Africa stretching from south-eastern Nigeria through north-central Cameroon ( Adamawa and North Provinces) to the Central African Republic. The part of the pl ...
and southeast of the
Cameroon Range The Western High Plateau, Western Highlands or Bamenda Grassfields is a region of Cameroon characterised by high relief, cool temperatures, heavy rainfall and savanna vegetation. The region lies along the Cameroon line and consists of mountai ...
. It slopes south and west until giving way to the Cameroon coastal plain in the southwest and the
Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...
basin in the southeast. The plateau is characterised by hills and valleys in the southwest and a more gentle
peneplain 390px, Sketch of a hypothetical peneplain formation after an orogeny. In geomorphology and geology, a peneplain is a low-relief plain formed by protracted erosion. This is the definition in the broadest of terms, albeit with frequency the usage ...
in the southwest. Isolated
massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...
s occur, especially in the southwest.
Metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...
s make up the plain's basement. The soils are ferrallitic and lateritic, with colouration ranging from red or brown in the interior to yellow on the coast. The soils are subjected to silica leeching, so they are not productive without fertiliser. The plateau experiences four major
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...
s, two rainy, and two dry. Rainfall is high, especially along the coast. The average temperature changes little from 25°C.
River A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
s in the region drain into the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
and the Congo River basin. South of the Sanaga, those rivers flow steadily year-round, but the Sanaga and rivers north have a complex regime characterised by high- and low-water periods upstream and constant flow downstream. The predominant vegetation is rainforest, especially to the plateau's south. To the north, forests give way to
savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
.


Topography

The South Cameroon Plateau lies between 2 and 6° N and 10 and 16° E. It covers about 225,100 km², more than half of Cameroon's total area. The plateau is characterised by sloping terrain and gently rolling hills.Gwanfogbe et al. 9. The altitude varies from 250 to 800 m and averages 600 or 650 m. The
Western High Plateau The Western High Plateau, Western Highlands or Bamenda Grassfields is a region of Cameroon characterised by high relief, cool temperatures, heavy rainfall and savanna vegetation. The region lies along the Cameroon line and consists of mounta ...
lies northwest of the plateau and separates it from the interior African plain. The
Adamawa Plateau The Adamawa Plateau (french: Massif de l'Adamaoua) is a plateau region in west-central Africa stretching from south-eastern Nigeria through north-central Cameroon ( Adamawa and North Provinces) to the Central African Republic. The part of the pl ...
lies to the plateau's north. From an altitude between 800 and 900 m.Neba 16. there, the plateau slowly slopes south and west from the region of Bedzare and Meiganga. To the southwest, large inselbergs and tall hills separated by deep gullies predominate. The plateau gives way to the Cameroon coastal plain in escarpments. This topography has resulted in the creation of the Lobé Falls near Kribi, where the Lobé River meets the sea in a series of rapids. Some of the plateau's highest points are in this region, such as Mbam Minkom near
Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,50 ...
(1,295 m), and
Ntem massif Ntem may refer to: *Ntem (department), Gabon *Campo River, also called the Ntem, between Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea *Yamba language, also called the Ntem, in Cameroon See also

*Woleu-Ntem Province, Gabon {{dab ...
near
Ebolowa Ebolowa is the capital of Cameroon's South Region. It has a population of 79,500 (2001 estimate). It is a colonial town and a notable agricultural centre. Overview The main crop is cocoa. It also hosts an important number of administrative se ...
(1,400 m). To the southeast, the transition to the Congo Basin takes place on a gently sloping
peneplain 390px, Sketch of a hypothetical peneplain formation after an orogeny. In geomorphology and geology, a peneplain is a low-relief plain formed by protracted erosion. This is the definition in the broadest of terms, albeit with frequency the usage ...
. The hills of the eastern portion are gentler than those of the west. These hills are known as ''half-oranges'' and can easily be seen in the area of
Batouri Batouri is a town and commune in the East Province of Cameroon. It is the second largest municipality in the province after the provincial capital Bertoua. It is located on the main (though unpaved) road connecting Bertoua to the Central African ...
and
Bélabo Bélabo is a town and commune in Cameroon, lying on the Yaoundé – N'Gaoundéré railway line. Near the town lies the Sanaga-Yong chimpanzee rescue centre. Transport The town has a railway station served by Camrail, and lies on the San ...
. The lowest point of the plateau is the
Sangha River The Sangha River, a tributary of the Congo River, is located in Central Africa. Geography The Sangha River is formed at the confluence of the Mambéré River and the Kadéï River at Nola, Central African Republic, Nola in the western Central Af ...
valley in the southeast.


Geology

Metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...
s such as
gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...
, mica,
migmatite Migmatite is a composite rock found in medium and high-grade metamorphic environments, commonly within Precambrian cratonic blocks. It consists of two or more constituents often layered repetitively: one layer is an older metamorphic rock th ...
s, and
schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...
s make up the South Cameroon Plateau's basement. Deposits of these rocks appear along
fault lines In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...
south of Yaoundé, where schists and
quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tec ...
s are found; near the
Dja River The Dja River (also known as the Ngoko River) is a stream in west-central Africa. It forms part of Cameroon–Republic of Congo border and has a course of roughly . Rising southeast of the southeastern Cameroon town of Abong-Mbang, the Dja Faun ...
, where
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
and schists occur; and along the
Ntem River The Campo (in Spanish: ''Río Campo'') or Ntem River is a border river in Cameroon, mainland Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It rises in Gabon, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean in Cameroon in the Bight of Biafra. Towns * Campo * Minvoul, Gabon ...
, where gneiss,
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
, mica, migmatite, and schists occur. The plateau's western portions are made up primarily of gneiss. These rocks are millions of years old. The plateau's soils are predominantly ferrallitic and lateritic, the result of decomposing crystalline and sedimentary stone. The soil colour varies from red or reddish brown in the interior to yellow along the coast, where greater humidity causes a colour change.Gwanfogbe et al. 19; Neba 37. The soil is made up of decomposing crystalline rocks (granite, gneiss, schists, and michachists), or sedimentary rocks in the coastal area. Soils are deep, averaging 10 m., although they are thinner in the north, where rainy seasons are shorter.
Ferrous In chemistry, the adjective Ferrous indicates a compound that contains iron(II), meaning iron in its +2 oxidation state, possibly as the divalent cation Fe2+. It is opposed to " ferric" or iron(III), meaning iron in its +3 oxidation state, suc ...
deposits in the soil are quite hard and are used to make bricks.Gwanfogbe et al. 19. Constant leaching of
silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is ...
by percolating water prevents the soils from being very productive without fertilisation.


Climate

The South Cameroon Plateau experiences an
equatorial climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeas ...
of the Guinea subtype.Gwanfogbe et al. 16. The area experiences four seasons each year: two rainy, and two dry. The long dry season is from December to March (or slightly longer in the northern reaches of the plateau),Gwanfogbe et al. 17. the short rainy season from March to June, the short dry season in August, and the long rainy season from September to December. Rainfall averages 1,500–2,000 mm per year, and precipitation is common even during the dry seasons. However, rainfall is higher near the coast and in the south and diminishes toward the northeast.Gwanfogbe et al. 14. The coastal city Kribi, for example, receives 2,970 mm of rain each year,
Moloundou Moloundou is an ''arrondissement'' (district) in the Boumba-et-Ngoko Division of southeastern Cameroon's East Province. Mouloundou is close to Boumba Bek and Nki National Parks on the Dja River. It has a mayor and several decentralised admini ...
in the southeast gets 1,502 mm, and Yoko gets 1,638 mm. The temperature remains fairly steady year round, averaging 25°C. This fluctuates slightly with the seasons. The long, rainy season is the coldest time of year, and the long dry season is the warmest. Humidity is high year round.


Drainage

Numerous rivers run through the South Cameroon Plateau, particularly in the southeast. These bodies of water drain into both the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
and the
Congo River basin The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...
. The rivers south of the Sanaga follow an equatorial regime; that is, they reach a high water point during the rainy seasons and a low point during the dry seasons. There, rivers such as the Dja, Boumba, and
Sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...
have carved out valleys. The rivers flow slowly and experience seasonal flooding during the rainy season. The Sanaga and rivers north of it follow a complex, or mixed, Sudano-Guinea regime because the territory they drain lies in both
tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
and
equatorial climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeas ...
zones. This means that upstream, they follow a tropical regime, with high water during the long rainy season and low water during the long dry season. However, further south, they receive constant rainfall and flow steadily.


Flora and fauna

Dense vegetation covers the plateau, especially in the south.Neba 31. This includes vast tracts of rainforest, which grows in three or four strata. The tallest trees are straight with
buttress root Buttress roots also known as plank roots are large, wide roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted tree. Typically, they are found in nutrient-poor tropical forest soils that may not be very deep. They prevent the tree from falling over (hence t ...
s and stand about 40 m tall. Below these stand thinner, shorter trees with large concentrations of leaves at their tops. The bottom layer is made up of undergrowth of saplings and grasses, although this layer is thin when the larger trees grow close together and block the sunlight. Tree species include azobé,
bubinga ''Guibourtia'' is a flowering plant genus in the family Fabaceae, also known by the common names as Rhodesian copalwood, African Rosewood, Amazique, Bubinga, Kevazingo, and Ovangkol. Scientific Name being Guibourtia spp. Description ''Guibou ...
,
ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...
,
iroko Iroko (also known as in Igbo language, '' in the Urhobo language of Southern Nigeria, and as odum in the Kwa languages of Ghana) is a large hardwood tree from the west coast of tropical Africa that can live up to 500 years. This is the common n ...
, mahogany, and
obeche ''Triplochiton scleroxylon'' is a tree of the genus '' Triplochiton'' of the family ''Malvaceae''. The timber is known by the common names African whitewood, abachi, obeche (in Nigeria), wawa (in Ghana), ayous (in Cameroon) and sambawawa (in Ivo ...
. This primary rainforest exists in the plateau's south and east. Where human activities have affected the forest, for farming, timber, pasture, and urban growth, secondary growth has taken over as the forest has recovered. This is evident around Yaoundé. Forest gradually gives way to Guinean
savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
to the north.Neba 33. This consists of vast grasslands punctuated by trees. The savanna has increased as human activities have cut back the forest through activities such as burning.Neba 33–4. The plateau's rainforests house large numbers of animal species. These include birds, monkeys, and snakes. Others are elephants, chimpanzees, and many rodents.


Notes


References

* Gwanfogbe, Mathew, Ambrose Meligui, Jean Moukam, and Jeanette Nguoghia (1983). ''Geography of Cameroon.'' Hong Kong: Macmillan Education. * Neba, Aaron (1999). ''Modern Geography of the Republic of Cameroon,'' 3rd ed. Bamenda: Neba Publishers. {{coord, 5.0000, N, 12.0000, E, source:wikidata, display=title Plateaus of Cameroon