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Menengai Crater is a massive shield volcano with one of the biggest
caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...
s in the world, in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya. It is the largest volcano caldera in
Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...
and the second largest volcano caldera in
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. Volcanic formed rich loam soils enrich the adjacent farmland arounds its flanks. The crater is on the floor of the
Rift Valley A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear d ...
. The volcano formed about 200,000 years ago and the prominent 12 x 8 km caldera formed about 8000 years ago. The caldera floor is covered with numerous post caldera lava flows. The Menengai volcano is considered one of the best-preserved Krakatau-style calderas in the world. Menengai has very little sediment in the caldera which is a thick mass of lava boulders and inaccessible ridges. Volcanic activity continues and a current project under th
GDC
is at an advanced stage towards geothermal power generation. Menengai is north of
Nakuru Nakuru is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the capital of Nakuru County, and was formerly the capital of Rift Valley Province. As of 2019, Nakuru had an urban and rural population of 570,674 inhabitants, making it the largest ...
, the fourth-biggest city in Kenya.


See also

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List of volcanoes in Kenya This is a short list of active and extinct volcanoes in Kenya.For a more comprehensive list of volcanoes and craters in Kenya, see :sw:Orodha ya volkeno nchini Kenya List of volcanoes in Kenya (non-exhaustive) References * Volcanoes of ...
*
Menengai Forest Menengai Forest is an urban forest situated within the town of Nakuru in Kenya. The Menengai Crater is within the forest. It was gazetted as a forest in the 1930s. It is surrounded by residential areas of Milimani Estate in the South, Ngachura a ...


References


See also

* Mountains of Kenya Volcanoes of Kenya Polygenetic shield volcanoes Nakuru Nakuru County VEI-6 volcanoes Holocene shield volcanoes Volcanoes of the Great Rift Valley Calderas of Kenya {{RiftValleyKE-geo-stub