Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
to the south and continues northward into
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. It was formed on the "Kenyan Dome" a geographical upwelling created by the interactions of three major tectonics: the Arabian, Nubian, and Somalian plates. In the past, it was seen as part of a " Great Rift Valley" that ran from
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...
to
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. Most of the valley falls within the former Rift Valley Province.
The valley contains the Cherangani Hills and a chain of volcanoes, some of which are still active.
The climate is mild, with temperatures usually below .
Most rain falls during the March–June and October–November periods.
The Tugen Hills to the west of Lake Baringo contain fossils preserved in lava flows from the period 14 to 4 million years ago. The relics of many hominids, ancestors of humans, have been found here.
Features
The valley is bordered by escarpments to the east and west. The floor is broken by volcanoes, some still active, and contains a series of lakes. Some of the soils are
Andisols
In USDA soil taxonomy, Andisols are soils formed in volcanic ash and defined as soils containing high proportions of glass and amorphous colloidal materials, including allophane, imogolite and ferrihydrite. In the World Reference Base for Soil Re ...
, fertile soils from relatively recent volcanic activity.
Lake Turkana occupies the northern end of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. There are also volcanoes in Lake Turkana. The Suguta Valley, or Suguta Mud Flats, is an arid part of the Great Rift Valley directly south of Lake Turkana. The shield volcanoEmuruangogolak straddles the valley to the south of Suguta, and further south
Mount Silali
Mount Silali is a dormant volcano in the Gregory Rift Valley, near Kapedo, Kenya. Silali is south of the Suguta Valley, which reaches northward to Lake Turkana, and is about north of Lake Baringo.
Geology
Mount Silali is part of a group of vol ...
and Paka rise from the valley floor. Paka is a shield volcano, with widespread geothermal activity. South of Paka are
Mount Korosi
Korosi is a shield volcano located in the Gregory Rift at the northern end of Lake Baringo, Kenya.
See also
* List of volcanoes in Kenya
This is a short list of active and extinct volcanoes in Kenya.For a more comprehensive list of volcanoes ...
Menengai
Menengai Crater is a massive shield volcano with one of the biggest calderas in the world, in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya. It is the largest volcano caldera in Kenya and the second largest volcano caldera in Africa. Volcanic formed rich loam soil ...
is a massive shield volcano in the floor of the rift with a caldera that formed about 8,000 years ago. It overlooks Lake Nakuru to the south.
This region also includes Lake Elementaita,
Mount Kipipiri
Mount Kipipiri is an isolated volcano in the Wanjohi Valley, on the Kinangop Plateau near to the Aberdare Range.
It is about northeast of Lake Naivasha, which is visible from the summit.
Wildlife includes Colobus and Sykes monkeys, elephants and ...
Narok
Narok (sometimes referred to as Narok Town) is a town west of Nairobi that supports Kenya's economy in south-west of the country, along the Great Rift Valley. Narok is the district capital of the Narok County and stands as the major centre of ...
and
Nairobi
Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ...
. Lava flows from the most recent eruptions are still not covered by vegetation, and may be no more than one hundred years old.
Lake Magadi
Lake Magadi is the southernmost lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, lying in a catchment of faulted volcanic rocks, north of Tanzania's Lake Natron. During the dry season, it is 80% covered by soda and is well known for its wading birds, including ...
is the most southern rift valley lake in Kenya, although the northern end of Lake Natron in Tanzania reaches into Kenya.
The Elgeyo escarpment forms part of the western wall. The
Kerio Valley
Kerio Valley lies between the Tugen Hills and the Elgeyo Escarpment in Kenya. It sits at an elevation of 1,000 meters in the Great Rift Valley.
Geography
The isolated Kerio Valley is situated in a narrow, long strip that is approximately 80 ...
lies between the Tugen Hills and the Elgeyo escarpment at an elevation of
There are large deposits of Fluorite in the
Kerio Valley
Kerio Valley lies between the Tugen Hills and the Elgeyo Escarpment in Kenya. It sits at an elevation of 1,000 meters in the Great Rift Valley.
Geography
The isolated Kerio Valley is situated in a narrow, long strip that is approximately 80 ...
area.
Further south the Mau Escarpment is a steep natural cliff approximately 1,000 m (3,300 ft) high, running along the western edge of the Great Rift Valley about Lake Naivasha.
Yet further south the
Nguruman Escarpment
Nguruman Escarpment is an escarpment in southern Kenya. The escarpment is around 50 kilometres long and elongated in N-W direction. Its northern edge approximately 120 km southwest of Nairobi, while the southern edge is near the Tanzanian ...
is around 50 kilometers long and elongated in N-W direction. Its northern edge is about southwest of Nairobi, while the southern edge is near the Tanzanian border, at the northwestern corner of Lake Natron.
The Aberdare Range forms a section of the eastern rim of the Great Rift Valley to the north of Nairobi. Mount Satima lies at the northern end of the Aberdares and is their highest point, and Mount Kinangop at the southern end is the second highest. The mountains form a ridge between these two peaks. Ngong Hills are peaks in a ridge along the east of the Great Rift Valley, located southwest near Nairobi.
Lakes
Kenya is home to 64 (9.50%) of the total lakes found within the continent of Africa. Eight of these make up the main lakes in the Kenyan Rift Valley. From north to south, the names of these lakes are Lake Turkana,
Lake Logipi
Lake Logipi is a saline, alkaline lake that lies at the northern end of the arid Suguta Valley in the northern Kenya Rift. It is separated from Lake Turkana by the Barrier volcanic complex, a group of young volcanoes that last erupted during the ...
Lake Elmenteita
Lake Elmenteita is a soda lake, in the Great Rift Valley, about 120 km northwest of Nairobi, Kenya.
Geography
Elmenteita is derived from the Maasai word , meaning "dust place", a reference to the dryness and dustiness of the area, espe ...
Lake Magadi
Lake Magadi is the southernmost lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, lying in a catchment of faulted volcanic rocks, north of Tanzania's Lake Natron. During the dry season, it is 80% covered by soda and is well known for its wading birds, including ...
. Of those eight, only Lakes Baringo and Naivasha are fresh water.
Lake Turkana, at the northern end of the rift, is long, between and wide and is at its greatest depth.
Most of the other lakes are shallow and poorly drained, and therefore have become alkaline. They have waters that are rich in blue-green algae, which feed insect larvae, small crustaceans and lesser flamingos. The larvae and crustaceans are food for fish and greater flamingos.
Massive flocks of these birds have been found to have an effect on the lakeside sediments also. Their numbers cause trampling of the silts in certain areas, while the feeding grounds are oxygenated due to probing beaks in the mud. Their nest mounds can also be preserved and cemented as the lake's water levels change. These form irregularities in the lakeside topography.
Trona
Trona (trisodium hydrogendicarbonate dihydrate, also sodium sesquicarbonate dihydrate, Na2CO3•2NaHCO3•3H2O) is a non- marine evaporite mineral. It is mined as the primary source of sodium carbonate in the United States, where it has repla ...
, an evaporative mineral, used for sodium carbonate production, has been mined at
Lake Magadi
Lake Magadi is the southernmost lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, lying in a catchment of faulted volcanic rocks, north of Tanzania's Lake Natron. During the dry season, it is 80% covered by soda and is well known for its wading birds, including ...
for nearly 100 years. It produces about 250,000 metric tonnes per year. Other precious minerals like rubies and pink sapphires have been found and mined from areas around Lake Baringo. In 2004, over 2 kilograms of Corundum were collected.
Three shallow alkaline lakes and the surrounding lands make up the Kenya lake system: Lake Bogoria at , Lake Nakuru at and Lake Elementaita at . This system has one of the most diverse populations of birds in the world, and is the home of thirteen globally threatened species of bird. It is an important nesting and breeding site for great white pelicans, and is the most important feeding area for lesser flamingos in the world. The system is home to globally important populations of black-necked grebe,
grey-headed gull
The grey-headed gull (''Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus''), also known as the gray-hooded gull, is a small species of gull which breeds patchily in South America and Africa south of the Sahara. It is not truly migratory, but is more widespread in ...
and gull-billed tern.
The Kenya lake system is a key location on the West Asian-East African Flyway, a route followed by huge numbers of birds in their annual migration from breeding grounds in the north to wintering places in Africa. The lands around the lakes include large populations of black rhino, Rothschild's giraffe, greater kudu, lion, cheetah and wild dogs.
The Kenya lake system is surrounded by the steep escarpment of the Rift Valley, which provides a spectacular backdrop.
Other lakes are Lake Chew Bahir, in the northeast extension. This lake lies mainly in Ethiopia but extends into Kenya in the rainy season. Lake Kamnarok is another small lake.
Gallery
File:LakeBaringo.jpg, Lake Baringo, August 1999
File:Gregory002.jpg, Sketch by John Walter Gregory from his expedition to East Africa in 1892-3. " ountKenya from the Kapte Plains west of Machakos"
File:Africa6 006.jpg, The Great Rift Valley from near Eldoret, Kenya in the fall of 2006
File:Ardea purpurea -Lake Baringo, Great Rift Valley, Kenya -adult and chicks-8.jpg, An adult purple heron with chicks on a nest at Lake Baringo
File:Haliaeetus vocifer -Lake Naivasha, Great Rift Valley, Kenya-8.jpg, An African fish eagle about to catch a fish in Lake Naivasha
Java Man
Java Man (''Homo erectus erectus'', formerly also ''Anthropopithecus erectus'', ''Pithecanthropus erectus'') is an early human fossil discovered in 1891 and 1892 on the island of Java (Dutch East Indies, now part of Indonesia). Estimated to be b ...
Ogiek language
Ogiek (also Okiek and Akiek)The initial vowel varies by dialect. The first consonant is , but is pronounced or between vowels. is a Southern Nilotic language of the Kalenjin family spoken or once spoken by the Ogiek peoples, scattered groups ...
Origins of Tutsi and Hutu
The origins of the Hutu and Tutsi people is a major controversial issue in the histories of Rwanda and Burundi, as well as the Great Lakes region of Africa. The relationship between the two modern populations is thus, in many ways, derived from ...
Elgeyo people
:''Keiyo may also refer to Keiyo, a district in Kenya, ''Keiyo Line'' a railway line in Japan or Elgeyo escarpment''
The Elgeyo (also known as Keiyo) are an ethnic group who are part of the larger Kalenjin ethnic group of Nilotic origin. They ...
Geothermal power in Kenya
Geothermal power is very cost-effective in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya, East Africa. , Kenya has 690 MW of installed geothermal capacity. Kenya was the first African country to build geothermal energy sources. The Kenya Electricity Generating ...
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Science and technology in Africa
Africa has the world's oldest record of human technological achievement: the oldest stone tools in the world have been found in eastern Africa, and later evidence for tool production by our hominin ancestors has been found across West, Central, ...
Medical Emergency Relief International
Medical Emergency Relief International (Merlin) is a former British international non-governmental health charity which sends medical experts to global emergencies. In July 2013, Merlin merged with Save the Children.
History
Merlin was founded ...
Happy Valley set
The Happy Valley set was a group of hedonistic, largely British and Anglo-Irish aristocrats and adventurers who settled in the "Happy Valley" region of the Wanjohi Valley, near the Aberdare mountain range, in colonial Kenya and Uganda betwee ...
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Colin Fletcher
Colin Fletcher (14 March 1922 – 12 June 2007) was a pioneering backpacker and writer.
In 1963, Fletcher walked the length of that portion of Grand Canyon contained within the 1963 boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park. Although hi ...
Beryl Markham
Beryl Markham (née Clutterbuck; 26 October 1902 – 3 August 1986) was a Kenyan aviator born in England (one of the first bush pilots), adventurer, racehorse trainer and author. She was the first person to fly solo, non-stop across the Atlant ...
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Kuki Gallmann
Kuki Gallmann () (born 1 June 1943) is an Italian-born Kenyan national, best-selling author, poet, environmental activist, and conservationist.
Biography
The daughter of Italian climber and writer Cino Boccazzi, in 1972 she moved to Kenya with ...