Central Island, also known as ''Crocodile Island'', is a volcanic island located in the middle of Lake Turkana in Kenya. It is also the location of Central Island National Park, which is governed by the

Kenya Wildlife Service Kenya Wildlife Service is a state corporation under the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife established by an act of Parliament; Wildlife Conservation and Management Act CAP 376, of 1989, now repealed and replaced by the Wildlife Conservation and Ma ...

. It is composed of more than a dozen craters and cones, three of which are filled by small lakes. The two largest lakes partially fill craters up to a kilometre wide and about 80 m deep, the floors of which are near sea level. The highest point on the dominantly

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% of a ...

island reaches 550 m, about 190 m above the lake surface. An E-W-trending chain of small explosion craters cuts the eastern side of the 3-km-wide island. Several small islands to the SE represent partially submerged crater rims, and other cones and

lava plug A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcanic object created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of high gas pressure if rising volatile-charged mag ...

s lie beneath the lake surface near the island. The youngest Central Islands tuffs and lavas may be as young as

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

(Karson and Curtis, 1992).

Fumarolic A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volc ...

activity is concentrated along the NE-to-SE rim of the central crater, and sprays of sulfur from the

fumaroles A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...

were observed by visitors in the 1930s. In 1974 intense emission of molten sulfur and steam clouds were seen from the mainland.

References

External links

Kenya Wildlife Service – Central Island National Park

Cheetah Revolution Safaris - Central Island National Park
Volcanoes of Kenya Uninhabited islands of Kenya National parks of Kenya World Heritage Sites in Kenya Lake islands of Kenya Lake Turkana {{Kenya-geo-stub