Africa's Weather, Climate & Synoptic Maps is one of 9 topics in the Grade 11 Geography CAPS syllabus, covered across 3 lessons on Study Vault. Below are real practice questions from this topic with full worked answers.
Sample practice questions
Easy
1. Subsiding (sinking) air within the atmosphere generally produces which type of weather conditions?
Clear, dry, stable conditions with suppressed rainfall
Heavy, continuous rainfall
Frequent thunderstorms with hail
Extremely high humidity and dense fog every day
Answer: Clear, dry, stable conditions with suppressed rainfall — Subsiding air is compressed and warms as it sinks, moving further from saturation, which suppresses cloud formation and produces clear, dry, stable conditions.
Easy
2. What name is given to the zone near the equator where the northeast and southeast trade winds converge?
The Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)
The Subtropical High
The Ferrel Convergence Belt
The Polar Front
Answer: The Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) — The Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is the zone near the equator where the northeast and southeast trade winds converge, forcing air to rise and producing heavy rainfall.
Medium
3. Name ONE major African desert that forms as a result of subsiding air within the Subtropical High belt at around 30 degrees latitude.
Answer: The Sahara Desert — Both the Sahara Desert (Northern Hemisphere) and the Kalahari Desert (Southern Hemisphere) form largely as a result of persistent subsiding, dry air within the Subtropical High belt at around 30 degrees latitude.
