Leviathan Cave, also known as the Grotte de Leviathan, is a

lava tube A lava tube, more rarely called a pyroduct, is a 'roofed conduit through which molten lava travels away from its vent'. If lava in the tube drains out, it will leave an empty cave. Lava tubes are common in low-viscosity volcanic systems. La ...

in eastern

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

first discovered in 1975. Although it has been segmented by the movement of

tectonic plates Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...

, the overall length of the lava tube spans a distance of . It is the longest and deepest known lava tube in Africa. Leviathan Cave is located in the

Chyulu Hills The Chyulu Hills is a mountain range in Makueni County in southeastern Kenya. It forms a 100-kilometre-long volcanic field in an elongated northwest–southeast direction. Its highest peak is 2,188 metres high. The Leviathan Cave (also ...

National Park at the edge of the

Nyiri Desert Nyiri Desert, also called The Nyika, Taru Desert, Taru desert, is a desert in southern Kenya. It is located east of Lake Magadi and between Amboseli, Tsavo West and Nairobi National Parks. A high proportion of Kajiado County's land area is co ...

, which is found northwest of Tsavo West National Park. In the 1980s, Leviathan Cave was the third-longest known lava tube in the world. However, modern surveys have found newer, longer tubes, and have located longer passages of known tubes. Leviathan Cave is still the longest tube in Africa, but is only the 11th-longest lava tube in the world.

Description

Leviathan Cave is divided into two sections, the Upper Leviathan and the Lower Leviathan. The Upper Leviathan is long, with a depth of . The Lower Leviathan is long, with a depth of . These segments are considered separately when ranking the length of the Leviathan, per international standard. Like all lava tubes, Leviathan Cave was formed by hot lava flowing beneath a cooled crust.

References

{{coord missing, Kenya Caves of Kenya Landforms of Kenya Lava tubes

Description

See also

References