Mount Oku, or Kilum Mountain, is the largest volcano in the Oku Massif, in the Cameroon Volcanic Line, located in the Oku region of the

Western High Plateau The Western High Plateau, Western Highlands or Bamenda Grassfields is a region of Cameroon characterised by high relief, cool temperatures, heavy rainfall and savanna vegetation. The region lies along the Cameroon line and consists of mounta ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. It is the second highest mountain in mainland

Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

. The

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 ...

rises to above sea level, and is cut by a large

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 ...

Geology

Some of the rocks have ages starting from 24.9 to 22.1 million years ago, but much more recent activity has occurred. The mountain is built of

basaltic 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% ...

and hawaiitic lavas, succeeded by trachytes, and then by large volumes of trachytic and

rhyolitic Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals ( phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The miner ...

ignimbrite Ignimbrite is a type of volcanic rock, consisting of hardened tuff. Ignimbrites form from the deposits of pyroclastic flows, which are a hot suspension of particles and gases flowing rapidly from a volcano, driven by being denser than the surrou ...

s with a thickness of up to 1,000 m. Further trachytic lavas,

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 co ...

s and

breccia Breccia ( , ; ) is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or Rock (geology), rocks cementation (geology), cemented together by a fine-grained matrix (geology), matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language ...

s were produced, and the most recent phase produced pyroclastic cones and explosion craters. One of these craters holds Lake Oku, from which flows of basalt issued in the north, and of rhyolitic and phonolitic lavas in the south.

Ecology

A small

sphagnum ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...

community with associated wetland plant species was discovered at 2,900 m in 1997, near the summit of the volcano, the highest sphagnum bog in West Africa. This site includes several plant species

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the Kilum-Ijim area, and is of extremely high conservation importance. The 200 km² of forests of the Kilum-Ijim area around the mountain form the largest remaining patch of

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

, an important habitat for endemic species of animals and plants. The forest is at risk, since it is surrounded by a high density of human settlements.

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

and the Ministry of the Environment and Forestry are jointly operating the Kilum-Ijim Forest Project, which aims to conserve the forest biome, maintain biodiversity and ensure sustainable reuse. Most of the area within the Kilum-Ijim boundary is above 2000 metres in height, and consists of montane forest mixed with montane grassland and

subalpine Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

communities. At lower elevations, most of the submontane forest has been cleared for agriculture. Based on satellite images, between 1958 and 1988 about half of the forest was lost, although regeneration began soon after the conservation project was started in 1987. Since then there has been steady recovery of the forest reserve, which is under the direct management of the Kilum-Ijim communities. Endangered endemic species found exclusively on Mount Oku include the Mount Oku hylomyscus, the Dieterlen's brush-furred mouse, the Lake Oku clawed frog, Crotaphatrema lamottei the Mount Oku caecilian and the toad '' Wolterstorffina chirioi''. The montane grassland above the forest belt is home to the endemic Mittendorf's striped grass mouse.

References

External links

"Mont Oku, Cameroon" on Peakbagger
{{Authority control Volcanoes of Cameroon Cameroonian Highlands forests Stratovolcanoes of Africa

Geology

Ecology

See also

References

External links