Major climbs of Mount Teide

The first known ascent of Mount Teide by a European was in 1646 or 1650 according to the source by the British Philips Ward, John Webber, John Cowling, Thomas Bridges, George Cove and a friend named Clappham. In 1715 the English traveler J. Edens and his party made the ascent and reported their observations in the journal of the Royal Society in London. After the Enlightenment, most of the expedition that went to East, Africa and the Pacific had the Teide as one of the most rewarding targets. The expedition of Lord George Macartney, George Staunton and John Barrow in 1792 was about to end in tragedy, as a major snowstorm and rain swept over them, could not reach the peak of the mountain, not really reached beyond Montaña Blanca (Mountain White). With...

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Historical eruptions of Mount Teide

Teide is currently dormant; the last eruption occurred in 1909 from the El Chinyero vent. Historical volcanic activity on the island is associated with vents on the Santiago or NW rift (Boca Cangrejo 1492, Montañas Negras 1706, Narices del Teide or Chahorra 1798 and El Chinyero 1909) and the Cordillera Dorsal or NE rift (Fasnia in 1704, Siete Fuentes and Arafo and 1705). The 1706 eruption from the Montañas Negras vent on the Santiago rift destroyed the town and principal port of Garachico, plus several smaller villages. Historical activity associated with the Montaña Teide - Pico Viejo stratovolcanoes occurred in 1798 from the Narices del Teide on the western flank of Pico Viejo. Eruptive material from Pico Viejo-Montaña Teide-Montaña Blanca...

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Formation of Mount Teide

The stratovolcanoes Teide and Pico Viejo are the most recent centres of activity on the volcanic island of Tenerife, which is the largest (2058 km2) and highest (3718 m) island in the Canaries and has a complex volcanic history. The formation of the island and development of the current Teide volcano can be summarised into five stages, as shown in the diagram to the right. A recent study showed that in the future there will be violent eruptions at Teide also revealed that it has a structure similar to that of Vesuvius and Etna. Stage one Similar to the other Canary Islands, and Volcanic Ocean Islands in general, the island of Tenerife was built by accretion of three large shield volcanoes, which developed in a relatively short period of time....

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Name and Legend of Mount Teide

Name El Pico del Teide (The Peak of Teide) is the modern Spanish name attributed to the volcano. The Lunar mountain, Mons Pico, part of the Montes Teneriffe lunar mountain range, situated in the inner ring of the lunar mare Imbrium, was named after this 18th Century version of the name by Johann Schröter. Prior to the 1495 Spanish colonization of Tenerife, the native Guanches referred to the volcano as Echeyde, which in the Guanches' legends, meant some sort of powerful figure leaving the volcano that could turn into hell. Legends Echeyde (Teide) was a sacred mountain to the aboriginal Guanches, so it was considered a mythological mountain, like Mount Olympus was to the ancient Greeks. According to legend, Guayota (the devil) kidnapped Magec...

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Mount Pico del Teide highest mountain in Spain (although geographically in Africa)

Mount Teide (Spanish: Pico del Teide, "Teide Peak"), is the highest elevation in Spain and the islands of the Atlantic (it is the third largest volcano in the world from its base, after Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea located in Hawaii). It is an active volcano which last erupted in 1909 from the El Chinyero vent on the Santiago (northwestern) rift and is located on Tenerife, Canary Islands. The volcano and its surroundings comprise the Teide National Park (Parque Nacional del Teide in Spanish). The park has an area of 18900 hectares and was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on June 29, 2007. Since the end of 2007, it has also been one of the Twelve Treasures of Spain. Midway up the mountain are the telescopes of the Observatorio del Teide. Territorially...

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Climate of Mount Mulanje

The climate of the larger Mulanje area is strongly influenced by the equatorial low pressure area, where the north-east trades of the Northern Hemisphere converge with the south-east trades of the Southern Hemisphere. This area is known as the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). On satellite Images the ITCZ is mostly seen as a long band of clouds in the Equatorial region, the main effect of the ITCZ is the creation of dry- and rainy-seasons in the Equatorial area. If we focus on equatorial and central Africa, we can see, that the ITCZ moves as southern as northern Zimbabwe. Therefore also the greater Mulanje area is affected by the ITCZ despite of is location, roughly 1800 kilometers south of the equator. Most affected by the ITCZ in the...

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Mount Mulanje Massif

The Mulanje Massif, also known as Mount Mulanje, is a large monadnock in southern Malawi near the city of Blantyre, rising sharply from the surrounding plains of Chiradzulu, and the tea-growing Mulanje district. It measures approximately 13x16 miles (22x26 kilometres) and has a maximum elevation of 3,002m at its highest point, Sapitwa Peak. Much of the Massif consists of rolling grassland at elevations of 1800-2200m, intersected by deep forested ravines. It has many individual peaks reaching heights of over 2500m, including Chambe Peak, the West Face of which is the longest rock climb in Africa. The Massif was formed by the extrusion of magma into the Earth's crust about 130 million years ago. The surrounding rock eroded away over time, leaving...

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Mountaineering of Mount Kenya

Climbing routes Most of the peaks on Mount Kenya have been summited. The majority of these involve rock climbing as the easiest route, although some only require a scramble or a walk. The highest peak that can be ascended without climbing is Point Lenana, 4,985 m (16,355 ft). The majority of the 15,000 visitors to the national park each year climb this peak. In contrast, approximately 200 people summit Nelion and 50 summit Batian, the two highest peaks. When ascended directly, Batian is usually climbed via the North Face Standard Route, UIAA grade IV+ (or 5.6+ YDS). It was first ascended on 31 July 1944 by Firmin and Hicks. The route is usually climbed in two days. The Normal Route is the most climbed route up Nelion, and thence across to Batian....

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History of Mount Kenya

Joseph Thomson European sighting The first European to report seeing Mount Kenya was Dr Johann Ludwig Krapf, a German missionary, from Kitui in 1849, a town 160 km (100 mi) away from the mountain. The sighting was made on 3 December 1849, a year after the discovery of Kilimanjaro. Dr Krapf was told by people of the Embu tribe that lived around the mountain that they did not ascend high on the mountain because of the intense cold and the white matter that rolled down the mountains with a loud noise. This led him to infer that glaciers existed on the mountain. It was Krapf who gave the mountain the name "Kenya", but the derivation of this is not known with certainty (see the various local names below, some of which are similar). Dr Krapf also...

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Climate of Mount Kenya

The climate of Mount Kenya has played a critical role in the development of the mountain, influencing the topography and ecology amongst other factors. It has a typical equatorial mountain climate which Hedberg described as winter every night and summer every day. Mount Kenya is home to one of the Global Atmosphere Watch's atmospheric monitoring stations. Seasons The year is divided into two distinct wet seasons and two distinct dry seasons which mirror the wet and dry seasons in the Kenyan lowlands. As Mount Kenya ranges in height from 1,374 m (4,508 ft) to 5,199 m (17,057 ft) the climate varies considerably over the mountain and has different zones of influence. The lower, south eastern slopes are the wettest as the predominant weather system...

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Flora and fauna of Mount Kenya

Hyrax are able to cope with a more extreme climate and are found up to the highest vegetation. Flora The flora found on Mount Kenya varies with altitude, aspect and exposure. As the altitude increases, the plants have to be more specialised, with adaptations to strong sunlight with ultraviolet, lower mean temperatures and freezing night temperatures. Plants in the Afro-alpine zone have overcome these difficulties in several ways. One adaptation is known as the giant rosette, which is exhibited by giant senecio, lobelia and giant thistle (Carduus), which use dead leaves to protect their buds from freezing. Giant rosette senecios form single-aged stand that drive community studture over decades. Many plant species in the Afro-alpine zone of...

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Natural history of Mount Kenya

The timberline forest is commonly in cloud Mount Kenya has several distinct ecological zones, between the savanna surrounding the mountain to the nival zone by the glaciers. Each zone has a dominant species of vegetation. Many of the species found higher up the mountain are endemic, either to Mount Kenya or East Africa, and are highly specialised. There are also differences within the zones, depending on the side of the mountain and aspect of the slope. The south-east is much wetter than the north, so species more dependent on moisture are able to grow. Some species, such as bamboo, are limited to certain aspects of the mountain because of the amount of moisture. Zones The climate of Mount Kenya changes considerably with altitude. Around...

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Rivers of Mount Kenya

Runoff from Mount Kenya provides water for over 2 million people Mount Kenya is the main water catchment area for two large rivers in Kenya; the Tana, the largest river in Kenya, and the Ewaso Ng'iso North. The Mount Kenya ecosystem provides water directly for over 2 million people. The rivers on Mount Kenya have been named after the villages on the slopes of the mountain that they flow close to. The Thuchi River is the district boundary between Meru and Embu. Mount Kenya is a major water tower for the Tana river which in 1988 supplied 80% of Kenya's electricity using a series of seven hydroelectric powerstations and dams. The density of streams is very high, especially on the lower slopes which have never been glaciated. The ice cap which...

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Glaciers of Mount Kenya

The Lewis glacier is the largest on Mount Kenya The glaciers on Mount Kenya are retreating rapidly. The Mountain Club of Kenya in Nairobi has photographs showing the mountain when it was first climbed in 1899, and again more recently, and the retreat of the glaciers is very evident. Descriptions of ascents of several of the peaks advise on the use of crampons, but now there is no ice to be found. There is no new snow to be found, even on the Lewis Glacier (the largest of them) in winter, so no new ice will be formed. It is predicted to be less than 30 years before there will no longer be ice on Mount Kenya. Glacial retreat and disappearance can be caused by change in temperature trends, or by change in precipitation trends. The glacier names...

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Peaks of Mount Kenya

Mount Kenya was a stratovolcano and probably looked similar to Mt. Fuji Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano that was active in the Plio-Pleistocene. The original crater was probably over 6,000 m (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 m (10,800 ft). Today the glaciers reach no lower than 4,650 m (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....

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