Editing Geography of Madagascar (section)

==Geographic features==
===Somali Plate===
Madagascar originated as part of the [[Gondwana]] supercontinent. Its west coast was formed when Africa broke off from Gondwana around 165 million years ago. Madagascar eventually broke off from [[Indian Plate|India]] about 88 million years ago. It is geologically located within the [[Somali Plate]].

===Soils===

Madagascar has been called the "Great Red Island" because of the prominence of red [[Laterite|lateritic]] soils. The red soils predominate the Central Highlands, although there are much richer soils in the regions of former volcanic activity, [[Itasy Region|Itasy]] and [[Ankaratra]], and [[Tsaratanana]] to the north. A narrow band of [[alluvial]] soils is found all along the east coast and at the mouths of the major rivers on the west coast; clay, sand, and [[limestone]] mixtures are found in the west; and shallow or skeletal laterite and limestone are located in the south. [[Deforestation]] and grazing cause aggressive [[erosion]] in many locations.<ref name=LC/>

===Tidal Flats===
A 2019 global remote sensing  analysis suggested that there were {{convert|1748|km2}} of tidal flats in Madagascar, making it the 18th ranked country in terms of how much tidal flat occurs there.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Murray |first1=N.J. |last2=Phinn |first2=S.R. |last3=DeWitt |first3=M. |last4=Ferrari |first4=R. |last5=Johnston |first5=R. |last6=Lyons |first6=M.B. |last7=Clinton |first7=N. |last8=Thau |first8=D. |last9=Fuller |first9=R.A. |title=The global distribution and trajectory of tidal flats |journal=Nature |date=2019 |volume=565 |issue=7738 |pages=222–225 |doi=10.1038/s41586-018-0805-8 |pmid=30568300 |s2cid=56481043 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0805-8}}</ref>