Geology of Mount Kenya

Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano that was active in the Plio-Pleistocene. The original crater was probably over 6,000 metres (19,700 ft) high; higher than Kilimanjaro. Since it became extinct there have been two major periods of glaciation, which are shown by two main rings of moraines below the glaciers. The lowest moraine is found at around 3,300 metres (10,800 ft). Today the glaciers reach no lower than 4,650 metres (15,260 ft). After studying the moraines, Gregory put forward the theory that at one time the whole summit of the mountain was covered with an ice cap, and it was this that eroded the peaks to how they are today. The lower slopes of the mountain have never been glaciated. They are now mainly cultivated and forested. They are distinguished...

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Natural history of Mount Kenya

The flora and fauna of Mount Kenya are diverse, due to the variation in altitude, rainfall, aspect and temperature. The mountain slopes can be divided into vegetation zones, with each zone having different dominant plant species. Although many plants on Mount Kenya have local (Kikuyu, Meru, Embu) names, here they are reported only with their English and scientific names. Weather on the mountain mostly comes from the Indian Ocean, to the east and south-east. Consequently these slopes are wettest. The wetter slopes can support thicker forests and more bamboo, as well as plants that require more water. The eastern and south-eastern slopes have more biodiversity than the northern and western slopes. The vegetation zones on Mount Kenya are more...

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Mount Kenya National Park

Mount Kenya National Park, established in 1949, protects the region surrounding Mount Kenya. Initially it was a forest reserve before being announced as a national park. Currently the national park is within the forest reserve which encircles it. In April 1978 the area was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The national park and the forest reserve, combined, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The Government of Kenya had four reasons for creating a national park on and around Mount Kenya. These were the importance of tourism for the local and national economies, to preserve an area of great scenic beauty, to conserve the biodiversity within the park, and to preserve the water catchment for the surrounding area. The national park...

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Mount Kenya

Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (5,199 metres (17,057 ft)), Nelion (5,188 metres (17,021 ft)) and Point Lenana (4,985 metres (16,355 ft)). Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around 150 kilometres (93 mi) north-northeast of the capital Nairobi. Mount Kenya is the source of the name of the Republic of Kenya. Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano created approximately 3 million years after the opening of the East African rift. Before glaciation, it was 7,000 meters tall (23,000 feet). It was covered by an ice cap for thousands of years. This has resulted in very eroded slopes and numerous valleys radiating from...

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Name and Local ethnicities of Mount Elgon

NameThe mountain is named after the Elgeyo tribe, who once lived in huge caves on the south side of the mountain. It was known as "Ol Doinyo Ilgoon" (Breast Mountain) by the Maasai and as "Masaba" on the Ugandan side.Mt. Elgon consists of five major peaks:Wagagai (4,321m), being in Uganda. Sudek (4,302m or 14,140;ft) in Kenya Koitobos (4,222m or 13,248;ft), a flat topped basalt column (Kenya) Mubiyi (4,211m or 13,816;ft) Masaba (4,161m or 13,650;ft) Mount Elgon is a massive solitary volcanic mountain on the border of eastern Uganda and western Kenya. Its vast form, eighty kilometers in diameter, rises 3070m above the surrounding plains, providing welcome relief in more than one sense of the word. Its mountainous terrain introduces variety...

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Mount Elgon

Mount Elgon is an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya, north of Kisumu and west of Kitale.Physical featuresIt is the oldest and largest solitary volcano in East Africa, covering an area of around 3500 km². Other features of note are:The caldera — Elgon's is one of the largest intact calderas in the world The warm springs by the Suam River Endebess Bluff (2563m or 8408 ft) Ngwarisha, Makingeny, Chepnyalil and Kitum caves. Kitum Cave is over 60 metres wide and penetrates 200 metres. It is frequented by wild elephants who lick the salt exposed by gouging the walls with their tusks. It became notorious following the publication of Richard Preston's book The Hot Zone in 1994 for its association with the Marburg...

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Mount Cameroon

Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in Cameroon near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako (the name of the higher of its two peaks) or by its native name Mongo ma Ndemi ("Mountain of Greatness"). The mountain is part of the area of volcanic activity known as the Cameroon Volcanic Line, which also includes Lake Nyos, the site of a disaster in 1986. The most recent eruptions occurred on March 28, 1999 and May 28, 2000. Mount Cameroon is one of Africa's largest volcanoes, rising to 4,040 metres (13,255 ft) above the coast of west Cameroon. It rises from the coast through tropical rainforest to a bare summit which is cold, windy, and occasionally brushed with snow. The massive steep-sided volcano of dominantly...

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Emi Koussi

Emi Koussi is a high pyroclastic shield volcano that lies at the south end of the Tibesti Mountains in the central Sahara of northern Chad. It is the highest mountain in Chad, and the highest in the Sahara. The volcano is one of several in the Tibesti massif, and reaches 3445 m in altitude, rising 2.3 km above the surrounding sandstone plains. The volcano is 60 by 80 km wide. Two nested calderas cap the volcano, the outer one being about 12 by 15 km in size. Within it on the southeast side is a smaller caldera, about 2–3 km wide and 350 m deep. Numerous lava domes, cinder cones, maars, and lava flows are found both within the calderas and along the outer flanks of the shield. Emi Koussi has been used as a close analog to the famous Martian...

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Champagne Castle Mountains

Champagne Castle is a mountain in the central Drakensberg range, and is the second highest peak in South Africa. It contains a series of subsidiary peaks, amongst them, Cathkin Peak (3149 m), Sterkhorn, Mount Memory, Monk's Cowl and Dragon's Back. It is said that when two intrepid mountaineers, David Gray and Major Grantham, climbed the peaks directly in front of Cathkin, they were about to celebrate their long haul by popping a bottle of champagne. But as fate would have it, the guide dropped the bottle on a rock – and in that moment Champagne Castle in the heart of uKaHlamba (Barrier of Spears) was christened. Champagne Castle is situated in the central area of the majestic Drakensberg Range in Kwazulu/Natal in South Africa. This peak can...

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Chappal Waddi Mountains

Welcome to Chappal Waddi inhale the jungle and let remote paradise penetrate your soul. A phenomenally exhilarating climb awaits you from the vast hilly and rugged terrain crossed by leopards and grazed by buffalo to the fabulously lush emerald green jungle inhabited by fascinating primates, Chappal Waddi is truly a feast for your senses. Located in the Southern sector of the Nigerian Gashaka Gumti National Park on the border of Cameroon, Chappal Waddi (Mountain of Death) is considered the highest peak in Nigeria at 2419 meters. It is largely undiscovered leaving the door open for you to venture into a world very few, if any, have experienced. Feel the rocky riverbed under your feet, see the strange and wonderful fish swim around your legs...

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Population and history of Air Mountains

The town of Agadez in the heart of the Tuareg country is the capital of Aïr. Much of the Tuareg population of Aïr until recently led a nomadic life, relying essentially on camel and goats from which they take milk, meat and skins used in the production of local handicrafts. Most sedentary populations were either dependents of higher caste Tuareg pastoralists or the Ikelan ( Bouzou in Hausa / Bella in Songhai), former slaves and captives of the Tuareg from Hausa and other southern peoples. These peoples were settled in northern oases, to tend the date palm plantations held by the noble clans. Agriculture products from oases such as Timia, Aouderas and Tabelot are traditionally exchanged against clothes, or salt, brought by camel caravans (Azalai)...

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Climate and vegetation of Air Mountains

Because of its altitude (on average between 500 and 900 m) and despite its low rainfall (50 to 160 mm/year on the lower plateau), the Aïr forms a green region in comparison with the surrounding deserts, especially after the August-September seasonal rains. The climate is classified as Sahel, like that of the regions well to its south. While the mountains are largely bare of vegetation, the dry wadi river valleys (known by the Hausa term "Kori") channel and hold rainwater in gueltas (stone pools, such as that near the town of Timia), creating oases which provide forage for animals, and in some areas, farming. The high Bagzane plateau of the central Aïr in particular provides adequate rainfall for intensive agriculture. Other,...

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Geology Of Air Mountains

The Precambrian Aïr Mountains consist of peralkaline granite intrusions which appear dark in colour (unusual since most granitic masses are light-toned in the field). In the Sahara Desert such mountains often stand out in stark relief as topographic heights amidst lowlands covered by sand. The terrain consists of high plateau, mountain ranges, and broad, sandy valleys and seasonal wadis which once contained rivers. Areas of these deep, often intersecting, valleys also contain waterborne clay and silt deposits. Underground watercourses in some of these valleys continue to provide year round oasis and seasonal vegetation. Circular granite massifs (dark areas). A volcanic crater can be seen at the lower left. NASA image approximately 130 km (80...

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Aïr Mountains

The Aïr Mountains (also known as the Aïr Massif or Air of Niger; the name is Ayăr in Tuareg and Azbin /Abzin in eastern / western Hausa) is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara desert. Part of the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands ecoregion, they rise to more than 6,000 ft (1 830 m) and extend over 84 000 km². Lying in the midst of desert north of the 17th parallel, the Aïr plateau, with an average altitude between 500 and 900 m, forms an island of Sahel climate which supports a wide variety of life, many pastoral and farming communities, and dramatic geological and archaeological sites. There are notable archaeological excavations in the region that illustrate the prehistoric past of this region. The endangered...

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Environment of Ahaggar Mountains

The Ahaggar Mountain range is chiefly volcanic rock and contains a hot summer climate, with a cold winter climate (temperatures fall below 0°C in the winter). The mountains are young—about 2 million years old. Rainfall is rare and sporadic. However, since the climate is less extreme than in most other areas of the Sahara, the Ahaggar Mountains are a major location for biodiversity and host relict species. The Ahaggar Mountains compose the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands ecoregion. It is also one of the national parks of the country. Painted Hunting Dogs Slightly to the west of the Ahaggar range, a population of the endangered Painted Hunting Dog ( Lycaon pictus) remained viable into the 20th century, but is now thought to be extirpated...

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Ahaggar Mountains

An oasis in the Ahaggar Mountains The Ahaggar Mountains, also known as the Hoggar, are a highland region in central Sahara, or southern Algeria, along the Tropic of Cancer. They are located about 1,500 km (900 mi) south of the capital, Algiers and just west of Tamanghasset. The region is largely rocky desert with an average altitude of more than 900 metres (2,953 feet) above sea level. The highest peak is at 3,003 meters (Mount Tahat). Assekrem is a famous and often visited point where le Père de Foucauld lived in the summer of 1905. The main city nearby the Ahaggar is Tamanghasset, built in a desert valley or wadi....

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List of mountains in Africa

List of mountains in Africa : Name Elevation (m) Country Continent Ahaggar Mountains3,003 Algeria Africa Auasberge 2,484 Namibia Africa Aïr Mountains 2,022 Niger Africa Chappal Waddi 2,419 Nigeria Africa Cathkin Peak 3,377 Lesotho-South Africa Africa Emi Koussi 3,445 Chad Africa Kompassberg 2,500 South Africa Africa Mount Moco 2,620 Angola Africa Mount Baker 4,844 Uganda Africa Mount Cameroon 4,040 Cameroon Africa Mount Elgon 4,321 Kenya-Uganda Africa Mount Emin 4,798 Congo-Uganda Africa Mount Gessi 4,715 Congo-Uganda Africa Impati Mountain 1,600 South Africa Africa Mount Kadam 3,063 Uganda Africa Mount Karisimbi 4,507 Rwanda-Congo Africa Mount Kenya 5,199 Kenya Africa Mount Kilimanjaro 5,895 Tanzania-Highest mountain in Africa Africa Mount Kinyeti 3,187...

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Climbing of Aconcagua

In mountaineering terms, Aconcagua is technically an easy mountain if approached from the north, via the normal route. Aconcagua is arguably the tallest non-technical mountain in the world, since the northern route does not absolutely require ropes, axes, and pins. Although the effects of altitude are severe (atmospheric pressure is 40% of sea-level at the summit), the use of supplemental oxygen is not required. Altitude sickness will affect most climbers to some extent, depending on the degree of acclimatization. The second most frequented route is the Polish Glacier Traverse route, also known as the "Falso de los Polacos" route. This approaches the mountain through the Vacas valley, ascends to the base of the Polish Glacier, then traverses...

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Aconcagua

Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas at 6,962 m (22,841 ft). It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the Argentine province of Mendoza and it lies 112 kilometres (70 mi) west by north of its capital, the city of Mendoza. The summit is also located about 5 kilometres from San Juan Province and 15 kilometres from the international border with Chile. Aconcagua is the highest peak in both the Western and Southern Hemispheres. It is one of the Seven Summits. Aconcagua is bounded by the Valle de las Vacas to the north and east and the Valle de los Horcones Inferior to the West and South. The mountain and its surroundings are part of the Aconcagua Provincial Park. The mountain has a number of glaciers. The largest glacier is the...

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