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Hills and Ridges in Southwestern Nigeria

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Landscapes and Landforms of Nigeria

Part of the book series: World Geomorphological Landscapes ((WGLC))

Abstract

The Basement Complex rocks of southwestern Nigeria host a variety of residual hills. A distinction can be made among hills based on their parent materials and mode of formation. The hills include mesas, inselbergs, tors, regolith hills (i.e., erosional residuals in regolith), and regolith/forest-covered hills developed in amphibolite and diorite. Most common are inselbergs, which based on size have been classified into whalebacks, turtlebacks, bornhardts, and castle kopjes. They are either symmetrical or perfectly domical—bornhardts, elongated and symmetrical, or elongated and asymmetrical. They occur in clusters and with higher density in granitic plutons, but are scattered in various gneisses. These physical features have become a veritable touristic resource in the area. Good examples include the Idanre hills and the location of Abeokuta around the famous Olumo rock (which is actually a tor) in 1830.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

    Lawrence Kosoko Jeje & Oluwagbenga Orimoogunje

  2. Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Adeyemi Olusola

Authors
  1. Lawrence Kosoko Jeje
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  2. Oluwagbenga Orimoogunje
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  3. Adeyemi Olusola
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lawrence Kosoko Jeje .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Adetoye Faniran

  2. Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ilé-Ifè, Nigeria

    Lawrence kosoko Jeje

  3. Department of Geography, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Olutoyin A. Fashae

  4. Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Adeyemi O. Olusola

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Jeje, L.K., Orimoogunje, O., Olusola, A. (2023). Hills and Ridges in Southwestern Nigeria. In: Faniran, A., Jeje, L.k., Fashae, O.A., Olusola, A.O. (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of Nigeria. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17972-3_5

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