Lower Plains of Northern Nigeria

Abstract

Northern Nigerian lower plains are extensive areas of lower topography situated within the relief region that comprises plains, basins and isolated hills. The region is composed of Sokoto Plain which acted as a watershed for most of the rivers in the sub-region. Among the lower plains of Northern Nigeria, areas around Kano, Kaduna and Zaria are higher than the rest of the region in terms of relief and landscape features, Maisaje hill is the highest at 1593 m above mean sea level. Riruwai Ring Complex with its old tin mining ponds serves as a source to the major rivers in the north-western part of the plain. To the north-east, the lower plain formed features such as sand dunes and isolated hills around Jahun, Katangare, Gudumbali, Bulatura and Lantewa Dunefields. Some of the dunefields are blessed with potash deposits. The major landscape features of the region include inselbergs, lake, dams, rivers, metasediments, sand dunes and isolated hills among others. In the north-east, Gwoza Hills an extension of the Cameroun Mountains appears to be the highest point of the sub-region surrounded by plains, basins, wetlands and the shrinking Lake Chad. The physical nature of lower plains and available water bodies provide a good environment for effective agriculture, fishing and mining among others. For that, it is important to identify, study and describe lower plain regions of Northern Nigeria for understanding the display and interaction between drainage sources, landscape, landform units and development processes.