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Mount Meru is a dormant
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 west of
Kilimanjaro in southeast
Arusha Region, Tanzania. At a height of ,
it is visible from Mount Kilimanjaro on a clear day,
and is the fifth-highest of the
highest mountain peaks of Africa, dependent on definition.
Mount Meru is located just north of the city of
Arusha, in the Arusha Region of Tanzania. It is the second-highest mountain in Tanzania, after
Mount Kilimanjaro, and the highest mountain in Arusha Region. The Momella route – which starts at Momella gate, on the eastern side of the mountain – is the most common route for climbers to reach the peak.
Mount Meru's lavas are alkaline in character and include
nephelinite. Much of the mountain's height was lost about 7,800 years ago due to a summit collapse. Mount Meru most recently had a minor eruption in 1910.
The several small cones and
craters seen in the vicinity probably reflect numerous episodes of volcanic activity. Mount Meru's
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 ...
is wide.
Mount Meru is the topographic centerpiece of
Arusha National Park. Its fertile slopes rise above the surrounding
savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
and support a forest that hosts diverse
wildlife
Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...
, including nearly 400 species of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s, as well as
monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...
s and
leopards.
The movie ''
Hatari!
''Hatari!'' (, Swahili for "Danger!") is a 1962 American adventure romantic comedy film starring John Wayne as the leader of a group of professional game catchers in Africa.McCarthy, Todd. ''Howard Hawks: the grey fox of Hollywood'', New York, ...
'' was filmed at the foot of Mountain Meru.
See also
*
Geography of Tanzania
*
List of volcanoes in Tanzania
*
List of Ultras of Africa
References
External links
*
Mount Meru Climb InformationtrekkingvisionsInformation about the Mount Meru Trek
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meru, Mount
East African montane forests
Mountains of Tanzania
Stratovolcanoes of Tanzania
Active volcanoes
Geography of Arusha Region
Four-thousanders of Africa