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The Suguta Valley, also known as the Suguta Mud Flats, is an arid part of the
Great Rift Valley The Great Rift Valley is a series of contiguous geographic trenches, approximately in total length, that runs from Lebanon in Asia to Mozambique in Southeast Africa. While the name continues in some usages, it is rarely used in geology as it ...
in
Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...
(Africa), directly south of Lake Turkana.


Location

The Suguta valley today is one of the driest parts of Kenya, with annual rainfall below . Lake Logipi seasonally fills a small part of the northern end of the valley. The valley has a relatively flat floor about above sea level. It is bordered by land to the east and west rising to and dotted with volcanic cinder cones. The
Barrier Volcano The Barrier is an active shield volcano located in the north of Kenya. It is last known to have erupted in 1921. Description The Barrier was given its name because it forms a barrier about long across the Kenyan Rift Valley. It has a width of ...
, a broad volcanic complex, separates the valley from Lake Turkana. Mount Ngiro rises to the east of the Suguta valley. The Losiolo Escarpment, rising above the valley floor on the east side near Maralal provides one of the most dramatic views of the Kenyan rift valley. Namarunu, a volcano active in historic times, extends into the valley from the western wall. The Suguta Valley lies along the axis of the
Gregory Rift The Gregory Rift is the eastern branch of the East African Rift fracture system. The rift is being caused by the separation of the Somali plate from the Nubian plate, driven by a thermal plume. Although the term is sometimes used in the narrow se ...
, which has been faulting in this area since the
Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Loriu Plateau to the west, and is thicker in the eastern part. Exposed volcanic rocks include
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...
s,
tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...
s and ash formed between 4.2 and 3.8 million years ago, the products of
trachytic Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava enriched with silica and ...
volcanism from 3,8 to 2.6 million years ago and basaltic and
alkali basalt Alkali basalt or alkali olivine basalt is a dark-colored, porphyritic volcanic rock usually found in oceanic and continental areas associated with volcanic activity, such as oceanic islands, continental rifts and volcanic fields. Alkali basalt ...
ic rocks created from that period until the present. In the early Pliocene the least horizontal stress direction - the direction of rift expansion - was NW-SE.


Hydrology

Lake Suguta once filled the valley, at times overflowing into Lake Turkana. The lake level rose and fell several times in the last 18,000 years due to changes of rainfall during the
African Humid Period The African humid period (AHP) (also known by other names) is a climate period in Africa during the late Pleistocene and Holocene geologic epochs, when northern Africa was wetter than today. The covering of much of the Sahara desert by grasses, ...
that lasted from 14,800 to 5,500 years ago. The lake level began to drop about 8,000 years ago, falling by . The valley is drained by a seasonal stream, the Suguta River, which in the rainy season forms the temporary Lake Alablad, a
playa lake Playa (plural playas) may refer to: Landforms * Endorheic basin, also known as a sink, alkali flat or sabkha, a desert basin with no outlet which periodically fills with water to form a temporary lake * Dry lake, often called a ''playa'' in the so ...
that combines with Lake Logipi at the northern end of the valley. In the dry season saline hot springs help maintain water levels in Lake Logipi, which is about to at its greatest depth, about wide and wide.


Ecology

The saline waters provide food for cyano-bacteria and other plankton, which in turn are food for
flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbea ...
es. Due to the inaccessibility and harsh climate, with high temperatures, only the most determined tourists visit the site. The valley is used as a hide-out by Pokot and Turkana cattle rustlers. It is considered a "no go" region by the police due to the extremely harsh environment and familiarity of the rustlers with the terrain.


November 2012 Police Killings

In November 2012 over 40 Kenya Police officers and reservists were killed in the Suguta Valley near Baragoi while on a mission to recover stolen cattle.


References


Sources

* * * * * * * {{Refend Great Rift Valley Masai xeric grasslands and shrublands Valleys of Kenya