Mount Longonot is a

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

located southeast of

Lake Naivasha Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, outside the town of Naivasha in Nakuru County, which lies north west of Nairobi. It is situated in the Great Rift Valley. The name derives from the local Maasai name ''ɛnaɨpɔ́sha '', meaning ...

in the Great Rift Valley of

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. ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. 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". Mount Longonot is protected by the Kenya Wildlife Service as part of Mount Longonot National Park. A 3.1 km trail runs from the park entrance up to the crater rim, and continues in a 7.2 km loop encircling the crater. The whole tour (gate-around the rim-gate) of 13.5 km takes about 4–5 hours allowing for necessary rest breaks - parts of the trail are heavily eroded and very steep. The gate elevation is around 2150 m and the peak at 2776 m but following the jagged rim involves substantially more than the 630 m vertical difference. Mount Longonot is 60 kilometres northwest of

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

and may be reached from there by a tarmac road. A nearby town is also named Longonot. The Longonot

satellite earth station A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fro ...

is located south of the mountain.

Geology

Longonot is a

which contains a large 8 x 12 km

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...

formed by vast eruptions of trachytic lava some 21,000 years ago. The current summit cone was developed within the earlier

. This cone itself is capped by a 1.8 km crater. The mountain has several parasitic cones and effusive lava eruptions occur on the flanks and within the

floor. Periodic geodetic activity recorded at Longonot in 2004–2006 demonstrated the presence of active magmatic systems beneath this volcano. , geothermal projects struggle to explore the potential.

Flora and fauna

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

plains zebra The plains zebra (''Equus quagga'', formerly ''Equus burchellii'') is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. Its range is fragmented, but spans much of southern and eastern Africa south of the Sahara. Six or seven subspec ...

giraffe The giraffe is a large Fauna of Africa, African even-toed ungulate, hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa.'' It is the Largest mammals#Even-toed Ungulates (Artiodactyla), tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on ...

Thomson's gazelle Thomson's gazelle (''Eudorcas thomsonii'') is one of the best known species of gazelles. It is named after explorer Joseph Thomson (explorer), Joseph Thomson and is sometimes referred to as a "tommie". It is considered by some to be a subspecies o ...

, buffaloes and

hartebeest The hartebeest (; ''Alcelaphus buselaphus''), also known as kongoni or kaama, is an Fauna of Africa, African antelope. It is the Monotypic taxon, only member of the genus ''Alcelaphus''. Eight subspecies have been described, including two som ...

. The crater is popular for hiking, bird and game watching that is enhanced by the flora and fauna on the slopes of the mountain.

Notable events

On March 21, 2009 bush fires burned up the side of the mountain and descended into the crater, trapping wildlife and feeding on drought-ravaged brush. Longonot Earth Station 2010

References

External links

Kenya Wildlife Service – Mount Longonot National ParkWebcam pointed at Mt. Longonot from Kijabe
Stratovolcanoes of Kenya Volcanoes of the Great Rift Valley Mountains of Kenya National parks of Kenya Calderas of Kenya Northern Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets Pleistocene stratovolcanoes Holocene stratovolcanoes Pleistocene calderas Active volcanoes {{Kenya-geo-stub

Geology

Flora and fauna

Notable events

See also

References

External links