The Gregory Rift
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EASTERN AFRICA Les poissons sont abondants et le stock d'espèces est très proche de celui du lac Abaya. Les espèces dominantes sont Lates niloticus et Bagrus docmac. Les crocodiles sont très nombreux, les hippopotames plus rares. Actuellement, l'exploitation du lac se limite à la pêche artisanale de la Perche du Nil. La productivité du lac en poissons n'a pas été estimée mais il est probable qu'elle est suffisamment élevée pour que la pêche commercialisée soit envisageable. 6.2 THE GREGORY RIFT by Mary J. SURGIS and K.K. KAVUTI The eastern branch of the Great Rift Valley continues South through Kenya and Tanzania as the Gregory Rift. In contrast to the Western Rift, whose lakes drain either to the Nile or to the Zaïre, the lakes of the Gregory Rift are almost all endorheic and many of them are highly saline. Apart from Lake Turkana, which is not considered here, the most intensively studied are the freshwater Lake Naivasha and the saline L. Nakuru: they are treated separately. Information available on the other major lakes is swmiarised in section 6.2.c. Geolo~y and Geography: The formation of the Rift Valleys and the history of the present lake basins is thought to have started towards the end of the Kiocene, some twenty million years ago. The Rift Valleys eut through the crystalline Precambrian rocks of the central African tableland which, over rnuch of the region, are overlain by shallow Cenozoic volcanics and other sedimentary deposits. The escarpments are sti 11 very obvious and the Valley floor lies Up to 500m belOW the general level Of the plateaux on either si de. In places the elevation of the escarpments is increased by the associated mountain ranges such as the Aberdares in Kenya and the Crater Highlands of Tanzania. There is much evidence of past volcanic activity: numerous extinct volcanoes are evident both in and along the edges of the Rift Valley while many of the lakes receive water from hot soda springs. 6. 2 • a. L.llE NAIVASHA Lake Naivasha <Fig. 6.6) is unusual among the lakes of the Gregory Rift in that, despite the fact that it lies in a closed basin, its water is fresh. It bas been intensively studied over the years by a number of limnologists and the information presented here cornes primarily from Li tterick et al <1979) whic~ summarises information from an extensive li terature but particularly from Kelack <1976, 1979) and the papers of Gaudet Ceg. 1977, 1978b), Gaudet and Kelack (1981), Mavuti and Litterick (1981) and Mavuti (1983). 1. Geography and Morphology Location: In the Central Rift Valley Province of Kenya c80krn by road from Nairobi; 0°4S'N, 36°20'E. Alt!._tude: 1889m asl; lake level variable± O.Sm annually. 331 AFRIQUE ORIENTALE 36' 15' 36' 30' 0'15' N \ 2840m coniour Bathymetflc contour (metresi 0 kilometres 20 0'30' 0'30' 3908m (F45· 36'1 s· 36•30' Fig. 6.6 Map of Lake Naivasha and its catchment area <redrawn after Gaudet and Melack 1981). 332 EASTERN AFRICA Landscapes: To the E. the Aberdare Range and the Kinangop Plateau; to the W. the Mau Escarpment; the Eburu Hills to the N. partially separate Naivasha from the Nakuru and Elmenteita basins. The Rift Valley floor in this region is still volcanically active and Mount Longonot, with several smaller volcanoes, forms a partial barrier to the S. which is breached by the Njorowa Gorge. Morphometry: The Naivasha basin contains four morphometrically distinct water bodies: the main lake comprises >90~ of the total, Cresent Island Crater Cthe rim of an extinct volcano> and Oloidien Lake are contiguous with the main lake but the distinctiveness of the latter depends on the level of the main lake. Lake Sonachi is a small, isolated crater lake close to the western shore of the main lake. Area of the drainage basin 2378 km2 Area of the system Cincluding Oloidien and Cresent Island craters> cl50km2 but very variable as shown in the table. Area km2 Maximum depth m Mean depth m 1973 1979 1973 1979 1973 1979 open water Haivasha Cmain lake) 115 150 7.3 10.0 4.6 6.5 Cresent Is. Crater 2.1 2.1 17 17 11.1 11.0 Oloidien 5.5 5.6 8.4 9.0 4.8 5.6 Depth: The depth is also very variable and undergoes seasonal fluctuations of c+-0.Sm and much longer term fluctuations of up to Sm CFig.6.7>. The lake is thought to have dried up completely at least once in the last 300 years. 2. Geology The geological history of the L. Naivasha basin has been discussed by Richardson and Richardson (1972). Lakes Naivasha, Elmenteita and Nakuru were all once part of a much larger lake which, from about 12,800 BP to 5,700 BP filled the basin and overflowed via Njorowa Gorge. After this the lake levels fell abruptly and about 4,200 BP reached their present levels. Before this there was at least one totally dry period of about 100 years and the lake may now be at its highest level for the last 3000 years. 3. Climate ~ Bsfb Koppen Total solar radiation: Monthly means varied from 568.5 x 104Jtm2/d to 2608.3 x 104J/m2/d with the maximum in January - February and minimum in July - August. Wind: Light breezes in the morning CS. 5km/h at 0900h); stronger in the afternoon; 11 -15km/h typical; not much seasonal variation; prevailing direction usually South. ~ainfall: The pattern of rainfall at Naivasha is shown in the climatic diagram CFig. 6. 8 >. There are two wet and two dry seasons 333 AFRIQUE ORIENTALE 1894 LAKE NAIVASHA WATER LEVELS 1892 <Il l'tl 1890 Vl LU 0:: f- LU 1888 :L 1886 1884+-~~-..-~~-.-~~--..--~~-.--~~--~~- 192 5 1935 1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1778 LAKE ELMENTEITA WATER LEVELS 1777 Vl LW 0:: 1- 1.!.J L: 1776 1775.,_~~~~~-.-~~-.-~~--r~~---,.--~--. 1925 19 35 1945 1955 19 65 1975 1985 400 LAKE NAKURU WATER LEVELS E u 300 Vl -' LW > 200 LU _J LU ::.::: 100 <( _,J 1935 1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 Fig. 6.7 Water level changes in Lake Naivasba (annual means redrawn fron Litterick et al 1979 plus data from the Kenya Hinistry of Water), Lake Elmenteita <redrawn from Melack 1979; no recent data avaiable> and Lake Nakuru <redrawn from Vareschi 1982). The gap for 1976 in the Lake Naivasha record indicates uncertainty about the annual mean at a time of low water level. 334 EASTERN AFRICA 200mm 60' NAKU~U 11836 "') 181' 877 33 9• l 14,37) 29 2' so· NAIVASHA (1900m) [ 100mm 50' m: [18.31.J 17.4' 588 1 40' 80mm 40' 30' GO mm 30' 1 :1 -155' -16 3' li 20. h1111lœ!Illl1fJlllJJlllh,l".""""'-flllW1U.llliJJllilll 40mm 20' 10• 20mm 10' 11.4' 8.8' 0 2.r ' J A s 0 N 0 J F M A M J Omm 33P' J A S 0 N D J F M A KISUMU (1149ml 233' l 71 50' AGADI SODA CO. 100mm 50' [1,47) 369' 376' 31.1' 40' eomm 40' 80mm 30' 60mm 30' 60mm •11.9" -122· 20' 40mm 20' 40mm 10• · 20mm 10' 20mm 20.3' 161' o•==........ ~~~~~~~~.J. Omm 0 Omm 12.4' ' J A S 0 N D J F M AM 200mm 200mm !1313 m) 2\0' 10% m: [14,0) 100mm "T'""50' 100mm 80mm 40' 80mm 30' 60mm 30' 60mm -124' 20· 4Qmm / 40mm 10' 20mm 17.1' ,__ ........ ~~~~~~~~_,__Jf :::m 14.2 O' J F M A M J J A S 0 N D Omm DA S 0 N J MF M A J KASESE, UGANDA 23 3'998 lDOmm 60' [4,4) :91S5ml 36 o· 28 9' w 100mm l. 40' ~80mm 30' f GO mm -l 3 s· 1--f-llJJ.UJ.:J.lJ.lUW.ilillJ.JjllllliJUJllillillillLr 20* · J..:)rnm 1 se· ! 1w o· .!FMt.~-MJJ A.~s··oN-oorr·m Fig. 6.8 Climatic diagrams for representative stations in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. Redrawn after Walter and Lieth Cl960 - 67) with the exception of those for Magadi and Kasese which have been constructed from records of the East African Meteorological Department in the library of the U.K. Meteorological Office 335 AFRIQUE ORIENTALE per year with maximum rainfall usually in April and minimum in January. The mean annual total is higher in the catchment than on the lake eg. 693-836mm (1973-75) in the Kalewa watershed. Evaporation: monthly means of relative humidity at lSOOh range from 22~ in January to 107~ in April. Air temperature: Monthly means vary from 15.9 - 18.5°C (Fig. 6.8); July bas the coolest means and the least range; January and February have the warmest means but the greatest range of temperatures. Daytime temperatures can reach 30°C. 4. Hydrograpby and Hydrology The Malewa River with a catchment area of 1730 km2 provides 9~ of the inflow; the Gilgil Ccatchment area 420 km2) is frequently dry before reaching the lake its flow having been diverted for irrigation etc. Both these rivers enter the lake tbrough the North Swamp. Flow in the Karati only reaches the lake during December to February. Groundwater seepage along the NE and NW shores provided 13 - 16~ of the inflow in 1973 - 75. Water balance for Naivasha main lake from Gaudet and Melack Cl981) m3 X 106 1973 1974 1975 Surface run-off 0.6 o. 7 0." River discharge 90.8 204.0 260.5 Rainfall 106.l 114.2 77 .l See page in 37.0 42.3 50.8 Total input 234.5 361.