Cameroon line

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Cameroon line

The Cameroon line is a geologic fault

Geologic fault

In geology, a fault or fault line is a planar Fracture in rock in which the rock on one side of the fracture has moved with respect to the rock on the other side....
or rift

Rift

In geology, a rift is a place where the Earth's Crust and lithosphere are being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics.Typical rift features are a central linear downdropped geologic fault segment, called a graben, with parallel normal faulting and rift-flank uplifts on either side forming a rift valley, where the rift r...
zone that extends along the border region of eastern Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federation constitutional republic comprising States of Nigeria and one Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria....
and western Cameroon

Cameroon

The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary state of central and western Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south....
, from Mount Cameroon

Mount Cameroon

Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in Cameroon near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako or by its native name Mongo ma Ndemi ....
on the Gulf of Guinea

Gulf of Guinea

The Gulf of Guinea is the part of the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Africa. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian is in the gulf. According to the International Hydrographic Organization, the Gulf's oceanic border is the rhumb line that runs from Cape Palmas in Liberia to Cape Lopez in Gabon ....
north and east towards Lake Chad

Lake Chad

Lake Chad is a historically large, shallow lake in Africa, whose size has varied greatly over the centuries. It is economically very important, providing water to more than 20 million people living in the four countries which surround it — Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria....
. It contains the Mbéré Rift Valley. It is characterized by a chain of mountain ranges and volcano

Volcano

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or Crust , which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface....
es known as the Cameroon Range or Cameroon Highlands.

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Encyclopedia

The Cameroon line is a geologic fault

Geologic fault

In geology, a fault or fault line is a planar Fracture in rock in which the rock on one side of the fracture has moved with respect to the rock on the other side....
or rift

Rift

Nigeria

Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federation constitutional republic comprising States of Nigeria and one Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria....
and western Cameroon

Cameroon

Mount Cameroon

Gulf of Guinea

Lake Chad

Volcano

African Plate

The African Plate is a tectonic plate which includes the continent of Africa, as well as oceanic crust which lies between the continent and various surrounding ocean ridges....
rotated counter-clockwise. The resulting rift opened up magma

Magma

Magma is molten Rock that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and may also exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and gas bubbles....
conduits that allowed the line of volcanoes to form. Nine of the volcanoes along the line are considered active, with the last eruption occurring in 2000 at Mount Cameroon

Mount Cameroon

Mount Manengouba

Mount Manengouba is a volcano in the Littoral Province of Cameroon. The Manenguba shrew and endemic vegetal species are native to the mountain....
. Lake Nyos

Lake Nyos

Lake Nyos is a crater lake in the Northwest Province, Cameroon of Cameroon, located about northwest of Yaound?. Nyos is a deep lake high on the flank of an inactive volcano in the Oku volcanic plain along the Cameroon line of volcanic activity....
is a crater lake

Crater Lake

Crater Lake is a caldera lake located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and famous for its deep blue color and water clarity....
associated with the volcanism of the Cameroon line in northwest Cameroon. The portion of the rift extending into the Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
is responsible for the formation of a string of islands including Annobón

Annobón

Annob?n may refer to:* Annob?n Province* Annobonese language* Annobon people...
, Bioko

Bioko

Bioko is an island off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea, part of Equatorial Guinea. In colonial times it geographical renaming Fernando P? or Fernando Poo, and under the Africanization policy of dictator Francisco Mac?as Nguema it was renamed Masie Ngueme Biyogo Island ; on his overthrow in 1979 it was named...
, Príncipe

Príncipe

Pr?ncipe is the smaller of the two major islands of S?o Tom? and Pr?ncipe lying off the west coast of Africa. It has an area of 136 km? and a population of around 5,000 people....
and São Tomé

São Tomé Island

S?o Tom? Island, at 854 km? , is the largest island of S?o Tom? and Pr?ncipe and is home to about 133,600 or 96% of the nation's population. This island and smaller nearby islets make up S?o Tom? Province, which is divided into six Districts of S?o Tom? and Pr?ncipe....
. These are also sometimes referred to as the Gulf of Guinea

Gulf of Guinea

Plate tectonics

Plate tectonics describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere. The theory encompasses the older concepts of continental drift, developed during the first decades of the 20th century by Alfred Wegener, and seafloor spreading, understood during the 1960s....
, a three-way junction of tectonic plates

Tectonic Plates

Tectonic Plates is a 1992 independent Canadian film directed by Peter Mettler. Mettler also wrote the screenplay based on the play by Robert Lepage....
is referred to as a triple junction

Triple junction

A triple junction is the point where the boundaries of three tectonic plates meet. At the triple junction a boundary will be one of 3 types - a Mid-ocean ridge, oceanic trench or transform fault and triple junctions can be described according to the types of plate margin that meet at them....
. The Cameroon line is a fracture beginning from a triple point of contact located some distance into the Atlantic. As this fracture did not continue all the way up to the European plate, this junction is an example of an aulacogen

Aulacogen

In geology, an aulacogen is a failed arm of a triple junction of a plate tectonics rift system. A triple junction beneath a continental plate initiates a three way breakup of the continental plate....
or failed arm of the triple junction.

The Cameroon Highlands are home to the Cameroon Highlands forests, a montane forest enclave of afromontane

Afromontane

Afromontane is a term used to describe the plant and animal species common to the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The afromontane regions of Africa are discontinuous, separated from each other by lowlands, and are sometimes referred to as the Afromontane archipelago, as their distribution is analogous to a series...
flora surrounded at lower elevations by the Lower Guinean forests

Lower Guinean forests

The Lower Guinean forests is region of coastal tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests extending along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea from eastern Benin through Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Cabinda, and Democratic Republic of the Congo....
near the coast, forest-savanna mosaic

Forest-savanna mosaic

Forest-savanna mosaic is a transition zone between the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests of equatorial Africa and the drier savannas and open woodlands to the north and south of the forest belt....
further inland, and Sudanian Savanna

Sudanian Savanna

The Sudanian Savanna is a broad belt of tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands that runs east and west across the African continent, from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Ethiopian Highlands in the east....
in the north. This area is also a distinct physiographic section of the larger Mid-African province, which in turn is part of the larger African massive division.