Landforms

There are 5 main landform areas, the Highlands, Escarpments, Plateaux, Lakeshore and Upper Shire Valley, and the Lower Shire Valley:

Escarpments: These are associated with major fault lines along the edge of the Rift Valley, running from Karonga in the north to Nsanje in the south. They are also found around the highland plateaux and mountains.


Highlands: These consist of isolated mountains between 1,320-3,000 masl. Extensive highland plateaux are found in the Nyika, Viphya and Mulanje, while Dedza and Zomba are more isolated.


Plateaux:Three quarters of Malawi consists of plateaux at elevations of 750-1300 masl. The topography is flat to rolling, with scattered rock inselbergs. The soil is deep well drained latosols on higher parts of the catena, with poorly drained sand and clay in the hollows. Poorly drained hollows are locally called dambos, (equivalent to vleis in Zimbabwe and South Africa).


Lakeshore and Upper Shire Valley: Lakeshore plains occupy 8% of the total land area, at 465-600 masl. The land is flat to gently undulating, with deep calcimorphic soils in the hollows. The upper Shire River flows through a broad flat valley from the south of the lake towards the south of the country. Soils are similar to those along the lakeshore. Mopanosols are found in some areas along the river.


Lower Shire Valley:The lower Shire extends from Kapachira falls to Nsanje at the bottom of the country, mostly at less than 180 masl. The river flows through two marshes with extensive areas of hydromorphic soils. To the east of the river, up to the Thyolo escarpment, soils are medium to coarse textured alluvial and colluvial. To the west there is a broad plain with vertisols and grey brown earths, rising towards the western escarpment. Some areas of saline soils are found.