Active and Extinct Volcanoes in Kenya

Geomorphology of Volcanic ACTIVE AND EXTINCT VOLCANOESMountains IN KENYA.

Omondi Felix Mark ACTIVE AND EXTINCT VOLCANOES IN KENYA.

THIS IS A LIST OF ACTIVE AND EXTINCT VOLCANOES IN KENYA.

Elevation Location Last Name Volcanic Landform

meters feet Coordinates eruption

The Barrier 1032 3385 2.32° N 36.57° E 1921 Shield Volcano 3.50° N 36.042° Stratovolcano(Composite Central Island 550 1804 - E Cones) Shaitani Shaitani Cinder

Chyulu Hills 2188 7178 2.68° S 37.88° E 1855 Chainu Chainu Cinder

Mount Elgon 4321 14178 1.1° S 34.5° E Stratovolcano(Caldera) Pyroclastic cone(Cinder Elmenteita Badlands 2126 6975 0.52° S 36.27° E Holocene Cone)

Emuruangogolak 1328 4357 1.50° N 36.33° E 1910 Shield Volcano Complex(Composite Homa Mountain 1751 5745 0.38° S 34.50° E Holocene Cones) Stratovolcano(Volcanic Mount Kenya 5199 17057 0°9 S, 37°18 E - ′ ′ Neck)

Korosi 1446 4744 0.77° N 36.12° E Holocene Shield Volcano

Likaiu 915 3000 2.17° N 36.36° E - Shield Volcano 0.914° S 36.446° Stratovolcano(Caldera) Longonot 2776 9108 1863 E

Marsabit 1707 5600 2.32° N 37.97° E Holocene Shield Volcano

Menengai 2278 7472 0.20° S 36.07° E 6050 BC Shield Volcano(Caldera)

Namarunu 817 2680 1.90° N 36.27° E 6550 BC Shield Volcano Tuff Cones(Cinder North Island (Kenya) 520 1706 4.07° N 36.05° E - Cone)

Nyambeni Hills 750 2460 0.23° N 37.87° E Holocene Shield Volcano

Ol Doinyo Eburru 2856 9370 0.63° S 36.23° E - Complex

Ol Kokwe 1130 3707 0.63° N 36.08° E Holocene Shield Volcano 0.904° S 36.292° Pumice Cones(Cinder Olkaria 2434 7985 1770 E Cone)

Paka 1697 5568 0.92° N 36.18° E 6050 BC Shield Volcano Pyroclastic cone(Cinder Segererua Plateau 699 2293 1.57° N 37.90° E Holocene Cone-Pyroclastic Flow)

Silali 1528 5013 1.15° N 36.23° E 5050 BC Shield Volcano

South Island (Kenya) 800 2625 2.63° N 36.60° E 1888 Stratovolcano

Suswa 2356 7730 1.175° S 36.35° E - Shield Volcano(Caldera)

1. Mount Elgon

• 1.13 N, 34.55 E • summit elevation 4321 m • Extinct Stratovolcano

Mount Elgon is the second highest mountain in Kenya and is an extinct volcano. Mount Elgon is in the far west of Kenya on the Ugandan border. The woodland on the south eastern slopes merges into thick mountain forests. In amongst the forest and caves you will find elephant, buffalo and other animals. Kitum cave is famous as the place where elephant herds enter deep into the mountain each night where they excavate salt. It is possible to drive up to 3,659 meters and then hike across moorland to Koitoboss Peak. Access to Mt Elgon is from the town of Kitale. Mount Elgon is the second highest mountain in Kenya. The volcano is located 140km North East of Lake Victoria and is bisected by the Kenya-Uganda border. Approximately 8km in diameter, Mt. Elgon’s caldera is one of the largest intact calderas in the world. Concerns of volcanic activity were raised in August 2004 after gas emissions were detected in cave on the mountain.Mt Elgon Eruptions 2 million years ago Mount Elgon is an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya. The mountain is named after the Elgeyo tribe, who once lived in huge caves on the south side of the mountain. It was known as "Ol Doinyo Ilgoon" (Breast Mountain) by the Maasai and as "Masaba" on the Ugandan side. It is the oldest and largest solitary volcano in East Africa, covering an area of around 3500 km².Mt. Elgon consists of five major peaks: • Wagagai (4,321m), being in Uganda. • Sudek (4,302m or 14,140ft) in Kenya • Koitobos (4,222m or 13,248 ft), a flat topped basalt column (Kenya) • Mubiyi (4,211m or 13,816 ft) • Masaba (4,161m or 13,650 ft) In 1896, C.W. Hobley became the first European to circumambulate the mountain. Kmunke and Stigler made the first recorded ascent of Wagagai and Koitobos in 1911. F. Jackson, E. Gedge, and J. Martin made the first recorded ascent of Sudek in 1890. The main peak is an easy scramble and does not require any mountaineering equipment. Other interesting features are: • The caldera — Elgon's is one of the largest intact calderas in the world • The warm springs by the Suam River • Endebess Bluff (2563m or 8408 ft) • Ngwarisha, Makingeny, Chepnyalil and Kitum lava tube caves. Kitum Cave is over 60 metres wide and penetrates 200 metres. It is frequented by wild elephants who lick the salt exposed by gouging the walls with their tusks. It became notorious for its association with the Marburg virus after two people who had visited the cave (one in 1980 and another in 1987) contracted the disease and died. The mountain soils are red laterite. The mountain is the catchment area for the several rivers such as the Suam River which becomes the Turkwel downstream and which drains into Lake Turkana, the Nzoia River and the Lwakhakha which flow to Lake Victoria. The town of

Kitale is in the foothills of the mountain. The area around the mountain is protected by two Mount Elgon National Parks one on each side of the international border.

Mt Elgon

2. Mount Kenya

Mount Kenya is the sacred mountain of the Gikuyu people. Mount Kenya is the second highest mountain in Africa and can be climbed. The walk is relatively easy but you have to be careful of mountain sickness and time is needed to acclimatize. The actual summit is 5199 metres and is only reachable by climbing. Walkers can reach Point Lenana at 4985 metres and takes between 2 and 5 days. The nearest towns to Mount Kenya are Naro Moru and Nanyuki. Mount Kenya is located on the African Rift Valley. Eruptions have been infrequent in recent years, but there will be future volcanic activity. Volcanic activity extends 200 km both east and west of the main Rift Valley and is centered on the Kenya "dome". There is a diversity of volcanic rocks from acid to basic. Volcanism in the northern half of the Kenya Rift Valley began at 30 million years ago, and in the southern half it began at 15 million years ago. Before going on to describe Mount Kenya, some explanation is necessary of the different parts which make up a volcano. The neck is the channel or pipe through which molten lava from the lower crust of the earth rises to the surface. Materials discharged accumulate round the vent and build up a cone. The central depression or crater is kept clear by the explosive up rush of steam, etc. The cone is composed of lava and fragmentary volcanic materials known as ash if very fine-grained, tuff when the ash is consolidated, or agglomerate if the material is coarse- grained. These products are easily destroyed by wind and rain, so that it is only in the more recent volcanoes that we find the cones and craters still preserved. Although the main crater of Mount Kenya has long since been removed by erosion, parasitic cones of a much later date may be seen on the lower slopes of the mountain, many of which have their craters still preserved. The most resistant part of a volcano is the plug of lava which consolidates in the neck and it remains standing long after the lighter materials have been worn away. A mountain in which the plug forms the summit is sometimes known as a volcanic neck: an example is Mount Kenya. Volcanic cauldrons or caldera (as opposed to craters) are caused by subsidence, not up-building, and examples of these are Menengai, near Nakuru, and Ngorongoro (commonly, but erroneously, called Ngorongoro crater) in Tanganyika(Tanzania), which is more than 20 Kilometers across and one of the biggest caldera in the world. The crater of Mount Kenya is thought to have existed some 915 meters above its present summit (5195 meters). The peaks of Nelion and Batian consisting of the plug of the volcano, are composed of nepheline-syenite, a deep-seated igneous rock and not a lava. The various stages in the history of formation of the mountain may be summarized as follows a) Miocene or Pliocene. First eruptions of phonolite, followed by second and main eruptions of kenyte. b) Lower Pleistocene. Third eruptive stage (olivine-basalt), after a long interval between eruptions. c) Denudation, destruction of the crater, and excavation of existing valleys. d) Maximum glaciation during Lower and Middle Pleistocene, with a warmer period between during which the glaciers retreated. The glaciers on the mountain, which number ten at the present time, were first studied by Sir Halford Mackinder in 1903 and were found to end at between 44,060 and 45, 43 0meters. Dr. E. Nilsson has since concluded from the evidence of morrainesl that the glaciers formerly descended 1524 meters lower: to 3,049 meters in fact, and Dr. H. L. Sikes believes that they came as low as 2134 meters (the ice cap on Ruwenzori was lower still). Professor Gregory described fifteen glaciers on Mount Kenya, but five of these have now disappeared and, from observations and photographs taken in the last few years, it is evident

that the present glaciers are fast retreating. A few years ago, as Lieut. P. C. Spink remarks, the Curling Pond (at 4,573 meters approximately) extended to within a few meters of the top hut. This year (1948) I' noticed that the ice was about 28 meters from the hut and it looked by no means firm enough to attempt skating, as Mr. Melhuish did about 15 years ago. Whether the general progressive desiccation which is taking place in Kenya will mean the disappearance of the glaciers on Mount Kenya in the near future is a matter for speculation and I believe that no accurate measurements of the retreat of the ice have been taken on Mount Kenya, though Lieut. Spink has attempted to do this on Kilimanjaro over a number of years. Professor Gregory remarks on the contrast between the jagged peaks above the ice zone which are exposed to frost action, and the rounded summits of areas which were formerly covered by ice and thus suffered corrasion by glaciers but were preserved from disintegration by frost (alternate freezing and thawing) under their blanket of ice. In former times when the glaciers descended much lower, they carved out many perfect V-shaped valleys which radiate from the main peaks. Other interesting evidence of a climate which was formerly much colder than it is to-day is afforded by the famous tree-groundsels (Senecio) and giant lobelias found at the higher levels on Mount Kenya and other African mountains (tree-groundsels). The ancestors of these huge plants must have lived at a lower altitude when the climate was colder and, as it became warmer, they retreated up the slopes of the mountains until they became completely isolated and gradually formed distinct species on the tops of the various mountains. In a recent paper Professor F. Zeuner has drawn attention to frost soils on talus slopes between 3963 meters and 4268 meters on Mount Kenya. On strongly inclined slopes striped soil structures are seen, while more level surfaces have structures of network type. In the latter type, fine earth centres about 127-203 millimeters wide occur in a stony background, being separated from each other by borders of 25.4-102 millimeters. The sorting processes responsible for these structures are only active under wet conditions and the main causes of the sorting are "frost heave" and "frost shove" produced by needle ice formation. Frost soils are also observed in the Arctic, but here they are due to seasonal freezing, whereas on Mount Kenya they are caused by the great diurnal variations in temperature. Kenya is indeed a "country of contrasts" and can boast of many striking features, but none I think more imposing than the sight of the glaciers on Mount Kenya at dawn, their snows a delicate pink against deep blue shadows, with the dark mass of the forest belt separating them from the parched brown of the plains beneath. It is not difficult to believe that this awe- inspiring mountain is the abode of the gods, as the Wakamba believed, and as such it is fitting that our country should take its name from their word for the mountain, which is "Kirinyaga" (in Kikamba the letters r and g are slurred, so that the word becomes" Ki-i-nya- a").

Mount Kenya

3. Mount Longonot

• 0.92 S, 36.45 E, • summit elevation 2617 m • Stratovolcano type of volcano. • Eruptions1863, ~1600, 1330, 1270 BC, and 3650 BC Mount Longonot is 2777m high and rises out of the Rift valley and has a distinct volcanic shape. The name comes from the Maasai world "olonong'ot" which means 'mountain of many spurs'. Whilst dormant the waters just a few thousand metres below the surface are over 300 degrees and one of the hottest on earth. The climb up passes lava fissures and canyons and some game can be seen. The views of the rift Valley are spectacular. Mount Longonot is 60 km north of Nairobi on the old Naivasha – Nairobi road. From the park gate to the summit will take about 6 hours return. 0.92 S, 36.45 E, summit elevation 2617 m stratovolcano type of volcano. Longonot volcano is located SE of Lake Naivasha. Lava flows on the northern flank occurred around 1863. In the mid 20th century 30 fumaroles were reported at the volcano. On the northern flank there is a well preserved parasitis cone and recent-looking lava. Longonot Volcano Eruptions1863, ~1600, 1330, 1270 BC, and 3650 BC.Mount Longonot is a dormant stratovolcano located southeast of Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya, Africa. It is thought to have last erupted in the 1860s. Its name is derived from the Maasai word oloonong'ot, meaning "mountains of many spurs" or "steep ridges".Mt. Longonot is protected by the Kenya Wildlife Service as part of Mount Longonot National Park. A trail runs from the park entrance up to the crater rim, and continues in a loop encircling the crater. A forest of small trees covers the crater floor, and small steam vents are found spaced around the walls of the crater. The mountain is home to various species of wildlife, notably zebra and giraffe.Mt. Longonot is 60 kilometres northwest of Nairobi and may be reached from there by a tarmac road. A nearby town is also named Longonot. The Longonot satellite earth station is located south of the mountain.

Mt Longonot

4. Western Highlands

The Western Highlands are around Eldoret which has an international airport. Within the region are a number of other airstrips. The main towns are Kericho, Kitale, Kaptagat and Kabaranet. The highlands are a group of hill and ranges with views across the Rift Valley. The Cherengani Hills rise to 3581 metres and lie northwest to Kapenguria. The hills are popular with more adventurous hikers and long hikes are possible. The Tugen Hills provide views across the rift valley to Lake Baringo. The hills around Kericho are covered in tea estates. Saiwa Swamp National Park allows walking and home of the Sitatunga and semi- amphibious antelope that lives in the swamps.

5. Shimba Hills

Shimba Hills National Reserve is just 50 kms inland from the coast and is an area of open grassland and rainforest. Easy to spot Elephant, Giraffe and Buffalo and if lucky the Roan and Sable antelope. In the forest are found the Black and White Colobus, Red Duiker and Suni Antelope. Access to the Shimba Hills is from Kwale.

6. Taita and Chyulu Hills

The Taita Hills are part of the Tsavo area and accessed from Taveta. The Chyulu Hills are young volcanic mountains and formed just over 500 years ago. A black lava known as Sheitani is found lining the hills. Home to elephant,cheetah and plains game and Maasai villages. In Taveta are the Jipe and Chala lakes.

7. Mount Dukana

• Kenya/ Ethiopia border.4.08 N, 37.42 E • summit elevation 1067 m • Pyroclastic cones. • The volcano lies on the Kenyan - Ethiopian boder.Mega Basalt Volcano Eruptions No recent eruptions.

8. North Island Volcano

• 4.07 N, 36.05 E • Summit elevation 520 m • Tuff cones • North Island is 2 km wide and located in Lake Turkana in northern Kenya. The last eruption is unknown but there are two unvegetated lava flows on the shore. Geothermal activity is present on the southern half of the island.