Location of minerals in Africa. Relief and minerals of Africa. Promising oil production areas in Africa

Africa is rich in its natural resources. African states are the world's main exporters of raw materials for ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy. South Africa is considered the richest country in mineral resources.

Minerals of South Africa

The regions of Equatorial and Southern Africa contain the richest mineral deposits in the world. Large deposits of chromite are located in Southern Rhodesia, Nigeria is rich in tungsten, and Ghana has manganese reserves.

The world's largest graphite deposits are located on the island of Madagascar. However highest value The economy of South African countries is driven by gold mining.

The main gold reserves are located in the Republic of South Africa. Gold ores here were formed back in the Cambrian period.

South Africa ranks first in the world in the extraction of such minerals as copper, lead, cobalt, tungsten and tin. Also in this region there are unique uranium ores, the content of pure uranium in which reaches 0.3%.

Minerals of North Africa

In North Africa there are deposits of such minerals as zinc, lead, cobalt, and molybdenum. These fossils were formed in North Africa at first Mesozoic era, during the period of active development of the African platform.

This region of the African continent is also rich in manganese. Oil-bearing sources are located in the region of Northern Sahara and Morocco.

Phosphorite-bearing zones are located between the Atlas Mountains and Libya. Phosphorites are used in the metallurgical and chemical industries, as well as in the production of agricultural fertilizers. More than half of the world's phosphorites are mined in the North African phosphate zone.

Morocco ranks first among the countries in the world in the production of phosphorites.

Minerals of West Africa

The main wealth of the subsoil of West Africa is coal and oil. Today, new methods of oil production in this region are being actively developed.

The main large deposits are located in the Niger Delta. West Africa is also rich in minerals such as niobium, tantalum and tin, iron ores, as well as non-ferrous ores.

On the territory of the coastal regions of West Africa there are large swimming pools natural gas. The southern territories are rich in gold ores.

Active mining in West Africa has a beneficial effect on the development of industry in this part of the African continent. Thus, over the past decade, a large level of development has reached non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical industry and mechanical engineering.

Africa has a diverse range of mineral resources, many of which represent the richest deposits in the world. There are large reserves of oil, coal, ferrous and especially non-ferrous metal ores (iron, manganese, copper, zinc, tin, chromite), rare metals and uranium ores, as well as bauxite. Of the non-metallic minerals, the deposits of phosphorites and graphite are the most valuable.

Mineralization processes occurred mainly in the eras of ancient folding - in the Precambrian and at the beginning of the Paleozoic. Due to the fact that the ancient foundation of the platform is exposed mainly in the Equatorial and South Africa It is in these areas that all the most important deposits of ore minerals are concentrated. Deposits of copper in the Republic of South Africa, chromite in Southern Rhodesia, tin and tungsten in Nigeria, manganese in Ghana, and graphite on the island of Madagascar are associated with the metamorphization of the oldest Archean and Proterozoic formations. However, gold is the most important among the Precambrian minerals.

It is known that Africa has long and consistently maintained first place among the countries of the capitalist world in gold production. Its main reserves are concentrated in the strata of Proterozoic conglomerates in Republic of South Africa(Johannesburg), and the mines are of particular value. Mineralization processes during the Cambrian period led mainly to accumulations polymetallic ores, as well as ores of non-ferrous and rare metals.

Among the areas of Cambrian mineralization, the so-called Central African copper belt, which stretches from the Katanga region (in the southeast of the Congo) through Northern and Southern Rhodesia to East Africa. Numerous deposits within this belt are mainly epigenetic, have a high metal content and provide the bulk of copper, the production of which Africa ranks second among capitalist countries. Along with copper, cobalt, lead, tin and tungsten are mined in this zone.

In Katanga, in the Kazolo-Shinkolobwe region, one of the world's most important uranium ore deposits with a very high uranium content (0.3-0.5%) is exploited. The second major area of ​​Cambrian mineralization is concentrated in South Africa, where the formation of a series large deposits occurred in connection with powerful outpourings of basic lavas and intrusions of granite batholiths. Complex processes of contact metamorphism culminated in the formation of large deposits platinum ores, gold, chromites, titanomagnetite ores.

In addition to non-ferrous metal ores, South Africa has deposits of iron ores. Iron ores generally of low quality; It is believed that most of them were deposited in brackish sea or ocean waters. Their accumulation, which began in the Precambrian, continued into the Silurian period. The main deposits are concentrated in the Pretoria area and in Capeland. The third area of ​​concentration of Cambrian polymetallic ores is the Moroccan highlands of the Atlas Mountains, in which the oldest rocks of the entire mountain system.

The mines of Morocco produce cobalt, molybdenum, zinc and lead. Towards the end of the Paleozoic and the beginning of the Mesozoic era, when the African platform experienced a relatively calm tectonic stage of development and thick strata of continental sediments were deposited on its ancient skeleton, the formation of formations containing coals. The coal basins of greatest industrial importance are in the Republic of South Africa, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, the Republic of the Congo (with its capital Leopoldville), Tanganyika and the island of Madagascar.

North of the equator, during this period of time, iron and manganese ores of sedimentary origin and oil accumulated in the continental sandstones of the Sahara. Significantly more favorable conditions for the formation of various minerals were established at the end of the Mesozoic era, when the sea transgressed to northern Africa from the Tethys geosyncline area and faults began, leading to the isolation of the African block, accompanied by active volcanism and the intrusion of large granite batholiths.

The group of areas of platform Africa includes the territory of almost the entire African platform with the exception of its eastern edge - the Abyssinian Highlands, the Somali Peninsula and the East African Plateau. On this huge area, anteclises and syneclises of the ancient foundation alternate many times, and therefore relief forms characteristic of outcrops of the ancient foundation and areas of development of the sedimentary cover replace each other.

The largest and most complex in structure and relief area of ​​the Saharan-Sudanese plains and plateau occupies the northern part of the platform, from the Atlas Mountains to the North Guinea Upland and the Azande uplift. In this area, the ancient foundation protrudes three times. In the west, it is exposed in the plains of crystalline peneplain Karet-Yetti (up to 500 m high), in the area of ​​the Raghibat shield. In the center, the ancient foundation is raised in the Ahaggar and Tibesti highlands and the southern spurs of Ahaggar (Adrar-Iforas and Lir plateaus). The uplift occurred along fault lines of northwest strike.

Volcanism and volcanic landforms are associated with the faults: phonolite peaks of Ahaggar (Mount Takhat 3005 m), basalt plateaus and extinct volcanoes of Tibesti (Emi-Kycсu) - 3415 m). On the eastern edge of the Sahara, the western wing of the Eritrean crystalline arch rises above the Red Sea by the blocky Etbai Ridge ( highest point Mount Ash-Shayib 2184m), steeply falling to the coast. The areas of outcrops of crystalline rocks and their characteristic relief forms are surrounded on all sides by covers of sedimentary deposits that make up low plains and mid-altitude plateaus. Lowlands occupy a limited area within the region. In front of the Karetietti plains lies the Atlantic accumulative marine plain; a strip of lowland also stretches along the coast of Libya and the United Arab Republic. It occupies the zone of subsidence of the edge of the African platform towards the Mediterranean geosynclinal region. In the UAR, in the lowlands, there are several depressions lying below sea level (the depth of Qattara reaches -133 m), developed by exogenous processes in monoclinal structures.

In front of the Atlas Mountains lies the forward trough of the platform, which only in the east, near the Gulf of Gabes, is expressed in relief as an area of ​​recent subsidence. The lowest parts of the depression, vast salt marsh plains (schotts), lie below ocean level (Melgir Shott has an elevation of -30 m). Most of the pre-Atlas trough is filled with sedimentary strata, composing foothill plateaus dissected by dry valleys. The crystalline peneplain of Qaret Yetti is separated from Ahaggar by the low strata plains of El Jof and the stepped plateau of Tanezruft. The El-Jof plains occupy most of the Aravan-Tauden syneclise, filled with Paleozoic formations; The Tanezruft plateau forms the western link of the ring of cuesta ridges (tassili), developed in monoclinal sedimentary rocks uplifted along the slopes of Ahaggar and Tibesti.

Africa is not only a continent famous for its unique nature and culture; this continent is also rich in natural resources. IN equatorial zone there is a large part of the mainland, which provides optimal conditions for the growth of forests, which make up 10% of the total area forest area Earth. Wood is the main commodity exported.

Another treasury of Africa is the Sahara Desert, whose depths hide huge reserves fresh water. This continent contains the most large rivers planets that rightly bear the name of energy minerals of Africa.

Africa is the main supplier of resources for ferrous and chemical enterprises for the entire planet. The subsoil of Africa is rich in phosphorites, chromites, and titanium. The main reserves of cobalt, copper, manganese), as well as precious minerals and metals (diamonds, gold) globe concentrated on this continent. North Africa's mineral resources, which include sedimentary minerals, gas and oil, are of global importance. South and central Africa valued for igneous minerals - ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, as well as diamonds.

Mineral deposits are determined by the formation of the continent's topography. In the north there are more lowlands and depressions, which were flooded by the seas, so coal and manganese ores were formed in the form of sediments. East and southern Africa are represented by plateaus and highlands, which historically formed on the site of vertical and horizontal movements of platforms, so this part is rich in diamonds, gold, and uranium ores.

This continent has such an unimaginable reserve that Africa’s mineral resources do not leave one free space on the map; literally every millimeter of area contains one or another mineral. Africa is famous for its ore deposits, the formation of which dates back to the birth of the Paleozoic. Currently, this platform is exposed on the equator and the south of the continent, and therefore these areas have become the concentration of ore deposits. Thanks to this “exposure” of ancient platforms, copper deposits in South Africa have become available to the population of the planet, chromite is being developed in Southern Rhodesia, Nigeria is famous for tin and tungsten, Ghana is famous for manganese, and the island of Madagascar may well provide the entire planet with graphite. But still, Africans thank the Paleozoic for the gold deposits. Perhaps in some areas Africa lags behind Western countries, but in this area this continent, represented by South Africa, has long and firmly held its position as a leader.

The Cambrian period of the formation of the earth's platforms is considered the beginning of the formation of the copper belt, which formed Africa's mineral resources such as copper, tin, cobalt, lead, tungsten and brought it to a leading position in the world. Africa ranks second in the development and extraction of the above-mentioned minerals. During this period, deposits of uranium and platinum ores formed on the continent. IN sea ​​depths Iron ores were formed, but due to the deposition of sea salts, these minerals of Africa are considered low-grade.

At the junction of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic, the continent's earth platform experienced a quiet period with a lack of movement of the earth's platforms, which allowed the formation of coal deposits, which are especially abundant in South Africa, Rhodesia, Congo and Madagascar.

The Sahara-Sudanese Plain of Africa is the most complex formation in structure, which has undergone faults and rock outcrops, uplifts and depressions of ancient foundations, and is valued for its deposits of iron, manganese ores and oil.

Africa is the second largest continent after Eurasia. Area 29.2 million km2 (with islands 30.3 million km2, about 1/5 of the land area of ​​the globe). Population 328 million people. (1967).

Main features of orography
The relief of A. is dominated by plains, plateaus and plateaus, lying at an altitude of 200-500 m above sea level (39% of the area) and 500-1000 m above sea level (28.1% of the area). Lowlands occupy only 9.8% of the area, mainly along the coastal margins. By average height above sea level (750 m) Africa is second only to Antarctica and Eurasia.

Almost the entire A. to the north of the equator is occupied by the plains and plateaus of the Sahara and Sudan, among which in the center of the Sahara rise the Ahaggar and Tibesti highlands (Emi-Kusi, height 3415 m), in Sudan - the Darfur plateau (Marra, 3088 m). To the north-west The Atlas Mountains rise above the Sahara plains (the city of Toubkal, 4165 m), and the Etbay ridge stretches to the east along the Red Sea (the city of Oda, 2259 m). The plains of Sudan from the south are framed by the North Guinea Upland (Bintimani, 1948 m) and the Azande plateau; from the east, the Ethiopian Highlands rise above them (Ras Dashan, 4620 m). It drops steeply to the Afar depression, where the most deep depression A. (Lake Assal, 150 m). Behind the Azande plateau lies the Congo depression, bounded on the west by the South Guinea Upland, on the south by the Lunda-Katanga plateau, on the east by the East African plateau, on which the highest peaks of Africa rise - Mount Kilimanjaro (5895 m) , Rwenzori town (5109 m).

Southern Africa is occupied by the high Kalahari plains, framed from the west by the plateaus of Namaqualand, Damaraland, Kaoko, and from the east by the Drakensberg Mountains (Thabana-Ntlenyana, 3482 m). The mid-altitude Cape Mountains stretch along the southern edge of the mainland.

The predominance of leveled relief on the mainland is due to its platform structure. In the northwestern part of Africa, with a deep foundation and widespread development of the sedimentary cover, heights of less than 1000 m predominate (Low Africa); in the southwest of Africa, where the ancient foundation is raised and exposed in many places, the heights of St. 1000 m (High A.). The troughs and protrusions of the African Platform correspond to large depressions (Kalahari, Congo, Chad, etc.) and uplifts separating and bordering them. The eastern edge of Africa is the most elevated and fragmented within the activated section of the platform (Ethiopian Highlands, East African Plateau), where the a complex system East African faults.

In elevated areas of High A. largest area occupy the basement plains and basement block mountains framing the depressions of the Vostochny grabens. A. (including Rwenzori) and Katanga. In Low Africa, basement ridges and massifs extend along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea and protrude into the Sahara (in the Lhaggar and Tibesti highlands, and the Etbai ridge). Lava plateaus and cones are widespread in the Ethiopian Highlands and East. A. (Kilimanjaro, Kenya, etc.), crown the peaks of Ahaggar and Tibesti, are found in Sudan (Marra), Cameroon (Cameroon Volcano, Adamawa Mountains), overlap the Drakensberg Mountains in Lesotho. Stratified denudation plains and plateaus occupy most of the area in Low Africa (Sahara, Sudan); in High A. they are confined to the deposits of the Karoo syneclise and make up the Drakensberg Mountains, the Veld plateau adjacent to them from the west and lying to the south of the river. Orange Top. Karoo. Accumulative plains are found mainly in Low Africa: in the middle reaches of the Niger, in the Chadian and White Nile basins, in the Congo basin; in High Africa they occupy the Kalahari depression. The folded block mountains include the Cape Mountains and the interior regions of the Atlas. The northern ridges of the Atlas are the only young folded mountains in Africa of Neogene-Paleogene age.

The relief of Africa is dominated by surfaces of the Neogene cycle of denudation and accumulation, dissected by the modern Congo cycle. Above them rise the remains of the predominant surfaces, worked out by more ancient cycles (up to the Gondwanan cycle).

Geological map

Geological structure and minerals.
Almost all of Africa, except for the Atlas Mountains in the north-west. and the Cape Mountains in the extreme south, is an ancient platform that also includes the Arabian Peninsula and about. Madagascar with Seychelles. The foundation of this African-Arabian platform, composed of Precambrian rocks, mostly folded and metamorphosed, appears in many regions of Africa - from the Anti-Atlas to the north-west. and Zap. Arabia in the north-east to the Transvaal in the south. The basement contains rocks of all age divisions of the Precambrian - from the Lower Archean (more than 3 billion years old) to the upper Proterozoic. The consolidation of most of Africa was completed by the middle of the Proterozoic (1.9-1.7 billion years ago); in the late Proterozoic, only peripheral (Mauritian-Senegalese, Arabian) and some internal (Ugarta-Atakor, Western Congo, Namaqualand-Kibar) geosynclinal systems developed, and by the beginning of the Paleozoic the entire area of ​​the modern platform was already stabilized (according to the latest data, sediments shown on geological map to the south of the Sahara as Cambrian, turned out to be Upper Proterozoic). In areas of early consolidation, deposits of the late, and in some places even early or middle Proterozoic (Transvaal, Zimbabwe and some others massifs) already belong to the platform cover. The rocks of the Early Precambrian basement are represented by various crystalline schists, gneisses, metamorphosed volcanic formations, and in large areas replaced by granites. They are subject to deposits of iron ores of sedimentary-metamorphic origin, gold (in connection with granites), and chromites (in ultrabasic rocks). Large accumulations of gold and uranium ores are known in the coarse rocks of the base of the sedimentary cover in the south of Africa. Younger, weakly metamorphosed rocks of the Upper Proterozoic of intraplatform folded zones (Katanga, Zambia, Southwestern Africa, etc.) contain deposits of tin, tungsten (in granites or near them), copper, lead, zinc and uranium ores.

The Phanerozoic sedimentary cover is developed on top of the Precambrian basement mainly in the western and central parts of North Africa (Saharan Plate), in large depressions of Equatorial and South Africa (Congo, Okavango, Kalahari, Karoo), in the Mozambique trough of the eastern coast and between the mainland and . Madagascar, also in the strip Atlantic coast from Mauritania to Angola. Marine Early and Middle Paleozoic folded sediments are distributed mainly in the region of the Sahara Plate, where they host large deposits of oil and gas (Algeria, Libya), as well as in the Atlas and Cape geosynclines. The formations of the Upper Paleozoic and Triassic are almost everywhere continental; in Equatorial and Southern Africa they begin with glacial deposits (upper Carboniferous - lower Permian) - witnesses of the cover glaciation of a significant part of the continent - and continue with Lower Permian coal-bearing deposits, with which the main coal resources of Africa are associated (South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, etc.). In Northern Africa, the Middle Carboniferous is carboniferous, above which red-colored continents and lagoonal sediments (in the Triassic with large strata of salts and gypsum) are common.

The beginning of the Jurassic included powerful volcanic eruptions and intrusions of basic (basaltic) magma, most common in Southern Africa, but also found in Western Northern Africa. During the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, most of Africa experienced uplift; continental sediments accumulated in the internal depressions; At the end of the Jurassic - the beginning of the Cretaceous, the intrusion of alkaline granites and carbonatites with deposits of rare elements (niobium, tantalum, etc.) took place, as well as the formation of kimberlite pipes, which are associated with diamond deposits - primary and redeposited in younger sediments and placers (South Africa, Angola , Democratic Republic of the Congo, countries of the northern coast of the Gulf of Guinea). The formation of the modern contours of the continent dates back to the same time (end of the Jurassic - beginning of the Cretaceous), associated with the subsidence of the bottom of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans and the formation of a system of perioceanic troughs containing significant deposits of oil and gas (Nigeria, Gabon, Angola, etc.). Madagascar separated from the continent at the end of the Paleozoic. At the same time, intensive subsidence of the modern coast of Tunisia and Libya occurred with the formation of oil deposits in Cretaceous and Eocene deposits. In the middle and end of the Cretaceous, a significant transgression engulfed the Sahara Plate: sea straits arose that connected the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Guinea and existed until the middle of the Eocene.

From the end of the Eocene to the beginning of the Oligocene, Africa (mainly the eastern and southern regions) experienced intense uplift, accompanied by the formation of mountainous terrain, the emergence of the East African fault zone and grabens-rifts of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, Ethiopia, lakes Rudolf, Albert, and Rukwa. Tanganyika, Nyasa, etc. An outbreak of volcanic activity dates back to the same time, continuing in some areas in the modern era (Kenya, Kilimanjaro, volcanoes of the Virungi region). Uplifts and volcanic activity also occurred in the Ahaggar and Tibesti highlands of the Sahara, Cameroon (Volcano Cameroon) and in some areas of the Atlantic coast (Cape Verde).

At the end of the Miocene, the folded structure of the Atlas Mountains arose; in the Pliocene, its central part sank along faults into the Alboran depression of the Mediterranean Sea.

A. has large reserves of iron ores (total reserves are estimated at approximately 16-23 billion tons), manganese ores (about 400 million tons), chromites (500-700 million tons), bauxite (3.3 billion tons), copper (reliable and probable reserves of about 48 million tons), cobalt (0.5 million tons), phosphorites (26 billion tons), tin, antimony, lithium, uranium, asbestos, gold (A. provides about 80% of the total production of capitalist and developing countries), platinum and platinum group metals (about 60% of production), diamonds (98% of production). After World War II, large reserves of oil (total reserves are estimated at 5.6 billion tons) and natural gas were discovered in Algeria (mainly in Algeria, Libya, and Nigeria).

Tectonic map

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Minerals of South Africa

The regions of Equatorial and Southern Africa contain the richest mineral deposits in the world.

Large deposits of chromite are located in Southern Rhodesia, Nigeria is rich in tungsten, and Ghana has manganese reserves.

The world's largest graphite deposits are located on the island of Madagascar. However, gold mining is of greatest importance to the economy of South African states.

The main gold reserves are located in the Republic of South Africa. Gold ores here were formed back in the Cambrian period.

South Africa ranks first in the world in the extraction of such minerals as copper, lead, cobalt, tungsten and tin.

Also in this region there are unique uranium ores, the content of pure uranium in which reaches 0.3%.

Minerals of North Africa

In North Africa there are deposits of such minerals as zinc, lead, cobalt, and molybdenum.

These fossils were formed in North Africa at the beginning of the Mesozoic era, during the period of active development of the African platform.

This region of the African continent is also rich in manganese. Oil-bearing sources are located in the region of Northern Sahara and Morocco.

Phosphorite-bearing zones are located between the Atlas Mountains and Libya. Phosphorites are used in the metallurgical and chemical industries, as well as in the production of agricultural fertilizers.

More than half of the world's phosphorites are mined in the North African phosphate zone.

Morocco ranks first among the countries in the world in the production of phosphorites.

Minerals of West Africa

The main wealth of the subsoil of West Africa is coal and oil.

Today, new methods of oil production in this region are being actively developed.

The main large deposits are located in the Niger Delta. West Africa is also rich in minerals such as niobium, tantalum and tin, iron ores, as well as non-ferrous ores.

The coastal regions of West Africa are home to large natural gas reservoirs.

The southern territories are rich in gold ores.

Active mining in West Africa has a beneficial effect on the development of industry in this part of the African continent. Thus, over the past decade, non-ferrous metallurgy, the chemical industry and mechanical engineering have reached a high level of development.

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Africa has a diverse range of mineral resources, many of which represent the richest deposits in the world. There are large reserves of oil, coal, ferrous ores and especially non-ferrous metals (iron, manganese, copper, zinc, tin, chromium), rare metals and uranium ores, as well as bauxite. Of the non-metallic minerals, the deposits of phosphorus and graphite are the most valuable.

Due to the fact that the ancient foundation of the platform is exposed mainly in Equatorial and Southern Africa, it is in these areas that all the most important ore deposits are concentrated. Deposits of copper in the Republic of South Africa, chromium in Southern Rhodesia, tin and tungsten in Nigeria, manganese in Ghana, and graphite on the island of Madagascar are associated with the metamorphization of the oldest Archean and Proterozoic formations.

It is known that Africa has long and steadily maintained the main place among the countries of the capitalist world in gold mining. Its main reserves are concentrated in the strata of the Proterozoic conglomerate in the Republic of South Africa (Johannesburg), and the mines are of particular value. Mineralization processes during the Cambrian period led mainly to the accumulation of polymetallic ores, as well as non-ferrous and rare metal ores.

Among the areas of Cambrian mineralization, the so-called Central African copper belt, which stretches from the Katanga region (in the southeast of Congo) through Northern and Southern Rhodesia to East Africa, stands out first of all.

Numerous deposits within this belt are mainly epigenetic, have a high metal content and provide the bulk of copper, the production of which Africa ranks second among capitalist countries. Along with copper, cobalt, lead, tin and tungsten are mined in this zone.

In Katanga, in the Kazolo-Shinkolobwe region, one of the world's most important uranium ore deposits with a very high uranium content (0.3-0.5%) is exploited. The second large area of ​​Cambrian mineralization is concentrated in South Africa, where the formation of a number of large deposits occurred in connection with powerful outpourings of basic lavas and intrusions of granite batholis.

Complex processes of contact metamorphism culminated in the formation of large deposits of platinum ores, gold, chromium, and titanium-magnetic ores.

In addition to non-ferrous metal ores, South Africa has deposits of iron ores. Iron ores are generally of low grade; It is believed that most of them were deposited in brackish sea or ocean waters.

It is important to take into account that their accumulation, which began in the Precambrian, continued into the Silurian period. The main deposits are concentrated in the Pretoria area and in Capeland. The third area of ​​concentration of Cambrian polymetallic ores is the Moroccan highlands of the Atlas Mountains, into which the oldest rocks of the entire mountain system are exposed.

Towards the end of the Paleozoic and the beginning of the Mesozoic era, when the African platform experienced a relatively calm tectonic stage of development and thick strata of continental sediments were deposited on its ancient axis, formations containing coals began to form. The coal basins of greatest industrial importance are in the Republic of South Africa, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, the Republic of the Congo (with its capital Leopoldville), Tanganyika and the island of Madagascar.

North of the equator, over a period of time, iron and manganese ores of sedimentary origin and oil accumulated in the continental sandstones of the Sahara. Much more favorable conditions for the formation of various minerals were established at the end of the Mesozoic era, when the sea transgressed to northern Africa from the Tethys geosyncline and faults began, leading to the separation of the African block, accompanied by active volcanism and the intrusion of large granite batholis.

The group of areas of platform Africa includes the territory of almost the entire African platform with the exception of its eastern edge - the Abyssinian Highlands, the Somali Peninsula and the East African Plateau.

On this huge area, anteclises and syneclises of the ancient foundation alternate many times, and therefore relief forms characteristic of outcrops of the ancient foundation and areas of development of the sedimentary cover replace each other.

The largest and most delicate region in structure and relief of the Saharan-Sudanese plains and plateau occupies the northern part of the platform, from the Atlas Mountains to the North Guinean Upland and the Azande Rise

In this area, the ancient foundation protrudes three times. In the west it is exposed in the plains of crystalline peneplain Karet-Yetti (up to 500 m high), in the area of ​​the Raghibat shield

In the center, the ancient foundation is raised in the Ahaggar and Tibesti highlands and the southern spurs of Ahaggar (Adrar-Iforas and Lir plateaus). The uplift occurred along fault lines of northwest strike.

The faults are associated with volcanism and volcanic landforms of the phonolytic peaks of Ahaggar (Mount Takhat 3005 m), basal plateaus and dry volcanoes of Tibesti (Emi-Kycсu) - 3415 m).

On the eastern edge of the Sahara, the western wing of the Eritrean crystalline arch rises above the Red Sea by the blocky Etbay ridge (the highest point is Mount El-Shayib 2184m), which ends abruptly towards the coast. The areas of outcrops of crystalline rocks and their characteristic relief forms are surrounded on all sides by covers of sedimentary deposits that make up low plains and mid-altitude plateaus.

Lowlands occupy a limited area within the region. In front of the Karetietti plains lies the Atlantic accumulative marine plain; a strip of lowland also stretches along the coast of Libya and the United Arab Republic. It occupies the zone of subsidence of the edge of the African plate to the Mediterranean geosynclinal region

In the UAR, in the lowlands, there are several depressions lying below sea level (the depth of Qattara reaches -133 m), developed by exogenous processes in monoclinal structures.

In front of the Atlas Mountains lies the forward trough of the platform, which only in the east, near the Gulf of Gabes, is expressed in relief as an area of ​​recent subsidence.

The lowest parts of the depression, vast salt marsh plains (schotts), lie below ocean level (Melgir Shott has an elevation of -30 m). Most of the pre-Atlas trough is filled with sedimentary strata, composing foothill plateaus dissected by dry valleys. The crystalline peneplain of Karet Yetti is separated from Ahaggar by the low, flat plains of El Jof and the stepped plateau of Tanezruft.

The El-Jof plains occupy most of the Aravan-Tauden syneclise, filled with Paleozoic formations; The Tanezruft plateau constitutes the western link of the ring of kuesᴛᴏʙ ridges (tassili), developed in monoclinal sedimentary rocks uplifted along the slopes of Ahaggar and Tibesti.

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Africa. Physico-geographical sketch. Minerals

Africa has a diverse range of mineral resources, many of which represent the richest deposits in the world.

Deposits of ore minerals - iron, copper, zinc, tin, chromium ores, gold - are confined to the ancient foundation of the platform, composed of igneous and metamorphic rocks.

Their largest deposits are located in the south and east of Africa, where the foundation lies shallow and the ores are close to the surface. Here, in particular, there are deposits of gold and copper, the reserves of which Africa ranks first and second in the world.

Africa is famous for diamonds - the most valuable precious stones.

They are used not only as exquisite jewelry, but also as a material unsurpassed in hardness. Half of the world's diamonds are mined in Africa. Their deposits have been discovered on the southwest coast and in the center of Africa.

Deposits of non-metallic minerals - coal, oil, natural gas, phosphorites - occur in sedimentary rocks and cover the lower areas of the platform with a thick cover.

Huge oil deposits have been discovered in the northern Sahara and the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. Rich deposits of phosphorites, from which fertilizers are produced, are concentrated in the north of the continent. In sedimentary strata there are also ore minerals formed as a result of weathering of igneous and metamorphic rocks.

Thus, deposits of iron, copper, manganese ores and gold of sedimentary origin are common in western and southern Africa. The distribution of Africa's mineral resources continues to be studied.

Mineralization processes occurred mainly in the eras of ancient folding - in the Precambrian and at the beginning of the Paleozoic.

Due to the fact that the ancient foundation of the platform is exposed mainly in Equatorial and Southern Africa, it is in these areas that all the most important ore deposits are concentrated.

Deposits of copper in the Republic of South Africa, chromite in Southern Rhodesia, tin and tungsten in Nigeria, manganese in Ghana, and graphite on the island of Madagascar are associated with the metamorphization of the oldest Archean and Proterozoic formations.

However, gold is the most important among the Precambrian minerals.

Among the areas of Cambrian mineralization, the so-called Central African copper belt, which stretches from the Katanga region (in the southeast of Congo) through Northern and Southern Rhodesia to East Africa, stands out first of all. Numerous deposits within this belt are mainly epigenetic, have a high metal content and provide the bulk of copper, the production of which Africa ranks second among capitalist countries.

Along with copper, cobalt, lead, tin and tungsten are mined in this zone.

In Katanga, in the Kazolo-Shinkolobwe region, one of the world's most important uranium ore deposits with a very high uranium content (0.3-0.5%) is exploited. The second major area of ​​Cambrian mineralization is concentrated in South Africa, where the formation of a number of large deposits occurred in connection with powerful outpourings of mafic lavas and intrusions of granitic batholiths.

Complex processes of contact metamorphism culminated in the formation of large deposits of platinum ores, gold, chromites, and titanomagnetite ores.

In addition to non-ferrous metal ores, South Africa has deposits of iron ores.

Iron ores are generally of low grade; It is believed that most of them were deposited in brackish sea or ocean waters. Their accumulation, which began in the Precambrian, continued into the Silurian period. The main deposits are concentrated in the Pretoria area and in Capeland. The third area of ​​concentration of Cambrian polymetallic ores is the Moroccan highlands of the Atlas Mountains, into which the oldest rocks of the entire mountain system are exposed.

The mines of Morocco produce cobalt, molybdenum, zinc and lead.

Towards the end of the Paleozoic and the beginning of the Mesozoic era, when the African platform experienced a relatively calm tectonic stage of development and thick strata of continental sediments were deposited on its ancient skeleton, formations containing coals began to form. The coal basins of greatest industrial importance are in the Republic of South Africa, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, the Republic of the Congo (with its capital Leopoldville), Tanganyika and the island of Madagascar.

North of the equator, during this period of time, iron and manganese ores of sedimentary origin and oil accumulated in the continental sandstones of the Sahara.

Significantly more favorable conditions for the formation of various minerals were established at the end of the Mesozoic era, when the sea transgressed to northern Africa from the Tethys geosyncline area and faults began, leading to the isolation of the African block, accompanied by active volcanism and the intrusion of large granite batholiths.

Minerals of Africa - types, characteristics, structure

Due to the enormous size of the ancient central core, the African continent has a much smaller percentage of areas with extensive sedimentary formations of interest from the point of view of the presence of oil than any other continent. The only exception in this regard is in inner Africa is part of the territory of western Uganda, on the border with Congo. Here, in the vast graben of Lake Alberta, which is a limited fault depression filled with Tertiary sediments, there are oil outcrops among the development of much older crystalline rocks.

The remaining areas with any prospects are located mainly on the coastal plains bordering the continent.

In North Africa, west of Egypt, there is an extensive belt of sedimentary deposits stretching over 3,200 km.

Only the first exploratory studies have been carried out in Libya. In Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, under the auspices of the French government, prospecting work is underway near oil seeps. Drilling is already underway here.

Three small fields producing small amounts of oil are being developed in Algeria. Oil comes from tertiary sediments. Four fields were discovered in Morocco, the total production of which in 1946 was about 100 barrels per day. The age of oil-bearing sand rocks ranges from Jurassic to Tertiary.

Promising oil production areas in Africa

Along the west coast of Africa, south of Morocco, there are six areas that could benefit from exploration.

They are located intermittently along the coast over a considerable distance: from French West Africa to Angola.

Minerals of Africa: distribution and main deposits

Oil accumulations here are possible mainly in Cretaceous and Tertiary deposits. In Nigeria, where promising areas for the development of sedimentary formations extend far into the continent, Equatorial Africa and exploratory drilling was carried out in Angola, but the work was not successful positive results.

The vast Karoo basin in the Union of South Africa, in the south of the continent, is filled with thick strata of freshwater sediments of Gondwanan formations (age from Permian-Carboniferous to Triassic).

Exploratory drilling for oil, carried out in part by the government of the Union of South Africa, did not produce positive results, so from the point of view of the presence of industrial accumulations of oil, this area should be considered unpromising.

Although the presence of oil has not been discovered in the Gondwana formations, there are thick coal-bearing strata and accompanying deposits of bituminous shale, from which oil is obtained by distillation.

These shales are currently being mined on a small scale in Ermelo, located approximately 130 km southeast of Johannesburg. Similar deposits are found in the Gondwana formations in the Congo.

As a result search work on east coast In Africa, two oil-promising areas have been identified, associated primarily with Mesozoic and Tertiary sediments.

The first region covers most of Southern Mozambique, and the second covers parts of Tangayinka, Kenya, Ethiopia, former Italian Somalia and British Somalia. Although commercial oil has not been discovered in any of these vast basins, US companies are currently searching intensively in Mozambique and Ethiopia. There are also some opportunities for oil in Eritrea, located further north on the Red Sea coast.

In the west of Madagascar, sedimentary strata ranging in age from Permian to Tertiary are developed.

The presence of tar sands and oil outcrops draws attention to this area as promising for oil. Shallow drilling carried out by the government intermittently for many years did not, however, produce any significant results.