landforms main ideas and resources · landforms divide the region people sometimes picture...
TRANSCRIPT
Landforms and Resources
Main Ideas • The Southwest Asian
landforms have had a major
impact on movement in
the region.
• The most valuable resources
in Southwest Asia are oil
and water.
Places & TermsGolan Heights
wadi
Tigris River
Euphrates River
Jordan River
Dead Sea
Connect to the Issues
resources Enormous oil
reserves have brought
changes to the economic and
political standing of this region.
A HUMAN PERSPECTIVE Artillery shells and sniper fire rained downon the lands below a small plateau in southwestern Syria. Airplanesbombed the military positions on the plateau itself. Families in nearbyvillages huddled in their homes, hoping for the shelling to stop. IsraeliArmy engineers struggled to build a road to enable tanks to reach thetop. Thousands died in the 1967 war when Syria and Israel fought forcontrol of the Golan Heights, also called Al Jawlan, a hilly plateau over-looking the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee. This landform’s strate-gic location has made it the site of conflict in Southwest Asia fordecades. It is one of many landforms that divide the region.
Landforms Divide the RegionPeople sometimes picture Southwest Asia as a region of rippling sanddunes and parched land occasionally interrupted with an oasis. But thelands of Southwest Asia actually range from green coastal plains tosnow-peaked mountains. Southwest Asia forms a land bridge connect-ing Asia, Africa, and Europe. As you can see on the map on page 37, theregion is situated at the edge of a huge tectonic plate. Parts of theArabian Peninsula are pulling away from Africa, and parts of theAnatolian Peninsula are sliding past parts of Asia. Still other plates arepushing up mountains in other areas of the Asian continent.
PENINSULAS AND WATERWAYS The most distinctive landform inSouthwest Asia is the Arabian Peninsula, which is separated from thecontinent of Africa by the Red Sea on the southwest and from the rest ofAsia by the Persian Gulf on the east. The Red Sea covers a rift valley cre-ated by the movement of the Arabian plate. The Zagros, Elburz, andTaurus mountains at the north side of the plate cut off part of the regionfrom the south. Another important landform in the region is theAnatolian Peninsula, which is occupiedby the country of Turkey. It marks thebeginning of the Asian continent. (Seethe map on page 479.)
Both peninsulas border on strategicwaterways. On the southwest side of theArabian Peninsula are the Red Sea anda strategic opening to the Mediter-ranean Sea—the Suez Canal. Goodsfrom Asia flow through this canal toports in Europe and North Africa.
SW
AS
IA
487
PLACE The Golan
Heights are a strategic
location near the source
of water in the region.
How will control ofthis area affect thosewho live on landsbelow the top of theplateau?
30°N
40°N
40°E30°E 50°E
Tropic of Cancer
Casp
i an
Se
a
PersianGulf
Red
Sea
Black Sea
MediterraneanSea
Euphrates
River
TigrisR
iver
Diyal
aR.
KarunR
.
ZAGRO
SM
OUNTAINS
C
RESCENT
ANATOLIA
FERTILE
Syrian
Desert
SYRIA
TURKEY
IRAQ
IRAN
KUWAIT
Mosul Arbil
Basra
Baghdad
0
0 250 500 kilometers
250 500 miles
Lambert Conformal Conic Projection
N
S
EW
The Anatolian Peninsula is located between the Black Sea and theMediterranean Sea. Two narrow waterways, the Bosporus Strait and theDardenelles Strait, are situated at the west end of the peninsula. Bothstraits have always been highly desirable locations for controlling tradeand transportation to Russia and the interior of Asia.
Farther south is a narrow passageway leading from the Arabian Seato the Persian Gulf called the Straits of Hormuz. These straits are theonly waterway to the huge oilfields of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.Because access to oil is essential to the world-wide economy, this water-way is very important.
PLAINS AND HIGHLANDS Much of the Arabian Peninsula is coveredby plains. Because of the dry, sandy, and windy conditions, few activi-ties using the land take place here. Most of the land is barren with somelow hills, ridges, and wadis, which are riverbeds that remain dry exceptduring the rainy seasons. On the southwestern corner of the peninsula,a range of mountains—the Hejaz Mountains—pokes out of the land.People living on the Arabian Peninsula have adapted to the harsh con-ditions by living nomadic lives in search of water.
The heart of Iran is a plateau surrounded by mountains. Isolated andvery high, the land is a stony, salty, and sandy desert. The foothills sur-rounding the plateau are able to produce some crops. Much of theAnatolian Peninsula is also a plateau. Some areas are productive for
agriculture, while other areas sup-port flocks of grazing animals suchas sheep and goats. The NorthernPlain of Afghanistan, a well-wateredagricultural area, is surrounded byhigh mountains that isolate it fromother parts of the region.
MOUNTAINS Rugged mountainsdivide the land and countries. As youstudy the map on page 479, you willsee that the Hindu Kush Mountainsof Afghanistan are linked with otherranges of mountains that framesouthern Asia. Afghanistan is land-locked and mountainous, so contactwith the outside world is difficult.
The Zagros Mountains on thewestern side of Iran help isolate thatcountry from the rest of SouthwestAsia. The Elburz Mountains south ofthe Caspian Sea cut off easy access tothat body of water by Iran. Finally,the Taurus Mountains separateTurkey from the rest of SouthwestAsia. In spite of these physical barri-ers, people, goods, and ideas movethrough the entire region. One of theways they move is by water.
Background
The Persian Gulf
is also called the
Arabian Gulf.
488 CHAPTER 21
MakingComparisons
How are the
plateaus of Iran
and Anatolia
different?
Tigris-Euphrates River Valley Today
SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting MapsPLACE The sources of two rivers are located on which landform?
PLACE Which landforms isolate the Fertile Crescent from other
parts of the region?
Landforms and Resources 489
WATER BODIES Southwest Asia is almost completely surrounded bybodies of water. They provide vital avenues for trade and access to otherparts of the region and to the rest of the world. However, because muchof the region is arid, there are few rivers that flow the entire year. Asyou can see on the map on page 488, two of the most importantrivers—the Tigris and the Euphrates—supported several ancient rivervalley civilizations in an area called the Fertile Crescent. They includedSumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Chaldeans.
Today, the Tigris and Euphrates flow through parts of Turkey, Syria,and Iraq. The valleys are fertile, well watered, and good for agriculture.The two rivers flow almost parallel to each other for hundreds of milesbefore joining at a place called Shatt al Arab. They spread out into slowmoving water and swamps, finally emptying into the Persian Gulf.
Tumbling down from the mountains of Lebanon near Mt. Hermon,the Jordan River provides one of the most precious resources in theentire region—water. Farther south, the river serves as a natural bound-ary between Israel and Jordan. The Jordan River flows into the saltywaters of the Dead Sea, a landlocked salt lake. The Dead Sea is so saltythat only bacteria can live in the waters. Thousands of years ago theearth was heaved up on the south end of the area now controlled byIsrael. The outlet to the sea was blocked, creating the salt lake. The DeadSea is 1,349 feet below sea level—the lowest place on the exposed crustof the earth. (See The Dead Sea, above.)
Resources for a Modern WorldIt is almost impossible to think about resources in Southwest Asia with-out including oil. It is the region’s most abundant resource. Major oil
Connect to
the Issues
resources
Why is control of
water resources
important in this
region?
SW
AS
IA
The Dead SeaThe Dead Sea is a landlocked salt
lake, so salty that almost nothing
can live in the water. It has been
described as the world’s largest
spa. (A spa is a place with healing
waters.) For thousands of years,
people have come to the edges of
the landlocked sea to bathe in its
mineral waters and soak in its
black mineral mud.
Imagine floating in water so
salty that you cannot sink. Salt
concentration in the Dead Sea
water is 31.5 percent, nine times
higher than in the world’s oceans.
The evaporation rate of the water
is about 55 inches per year, keep-
ing the water very salty despite
the flow of fresh water from the
Jordan River.
490 CHAPTER 21
HUMAN—ENVIRONMENTINTERACTION Men
work at an oil drilling
compound in the Rub
al-Khali desert.
How will oil drillingchange this area?
fields are located in the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, andIraq, with natural gas fields close by. Since these fossilfuels run cars and trucks, factories, and power plants allover the world, they provide the major portion ofincome for nations with petroleum reserves.
AN OIL-RICH REGION Today, about one-half of theworld’s oil reserves are found in Southwest Asia, alongthe coast of the Persian Gulf, and at offshore drilling sitesin the Gulf itself. The presence of these large reserves hasmade the region important because so many countries,including the United States, depend on its oil.
OTHER RESOURCES The most valuable resource inparts of Southwest Asia is water. In mountainous landssuch as Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, and Afghanistan, water isplentiful compared to the rest of the region. It can beharnessed for hydroelectric power. However, elsewhere,water is a scarce resource that must constantly beguarded and carefully used. Efforts to conserve water
have been a part of the culture of the people living in the region forthousands of years.
Southwest Asia has deposits of other resources such as coal, metallicminerals such as copper, and non-metallic minerals such as potash andphosphates. However, the deposits are scattered and not very large. Iranand Turkey have good-sized deposits of coal. Around the Dead Sea aresignificant reserves of salts such as calcium chloride. However, thesesalt deposits, which are used in manufacturing and chemical processes,have not been heavily developed.
The harsh land and the desert climate that you will learn about in thenext section make life in this region a challenge.
Places & TermsIdentify and explain
where in the region
these would be found.
• Golan Heights
• wadi
• Tigris River
• Euphrates River
• Jordan River
• Dead Sea
Taking Notes LOCATION Review the notes you
took for this section.
• Which waterways are considered
important for trade?
• In which area of the region are
the greatest deposits of oil found?
Landforms
Resources
Main Ideas a. In what ways do landforms
divide the region?
b. Why are the Red Sea and
Suez Canal of strategic
value in the region?
c. How did the presence of
oil in the region change
the region’s importance in
the global economy?
Geographic ThinkingDrawing ConclusionsWhich resource do you
believe is more important in
Southwest Asia—water or oil?
Think about:
• the scarcity of water
• the economic value of oil
See SkillbuilderHandbook, page R5.
MAKING COMPARISONS Study the map on page 483, focusing on energy sources in the
region. Create a map that shows the location of these energy sources. Label each country that
has such sources.
MakingComparisons
Why might
hydroelectric
power be better
to use than oil?