Marsabit is a 6300 km basaltic

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more v ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, located 170 km east of the center of the

East African Rift The East African Rift (EAR) or East African Rift System (EARS) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago. In the past it was considered to be part of a ...

, in

Marsabit County Marsabit County is a county in Kenya. Covering a surface area of 66,923.1 square kilometres. Marsabit is the second largest county in Kenya. Its capital is Marsabit and its largest town Moyale. According to the 2019 census, the county has a pop ...

near the town of

Marsabit Marsabit is a town in the northern Marsabit County in Kenya. It is situated in the former Eastern Province and is almost surrounded by the Marsabit National Park. The town is located east of the centre of the East African Rift at an elevation o ...

. This was primarily built during the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

, but some lava flows and explosive

maar A maar is a broad, low-relief volcanic crater caused by a phreatomagmatic eruption (an explosion which occurs when groundwater comes into contact with hot lava or magma). A maar characteristically fills with water to form a relatively shallow ...

-forming eruptions have occurred more recently. At least two of the maars host crater lakes. The volcano is covered by dense forest.

Marsabit National Park The Marsabit National Park is a national park and nature reserve located at Mount Marsabit in northern Kenya, near the town of Marsabit. It is located 560 km north of Nairobi in Marsabit County in the former Eastern Province and its reserve ...

is in the area. It was here, near a body of water they dubbed Lake Paradise, that American explorers

Martin and Osa Johnson Martin Elmer Johnson (October 9, 1884 – January 13, 1937) and Osa Helen Johnson (née Leighty, March 14, 1894 – January 7, 1953) were married United States, American adventurers and documentary filmmakers. In the first half of the 20th cent ...

spent time in the 1920s living and making wildlife documentaries.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20051224155242/http://www.kenyaforests.org/reports/Marsabitstatus.pdf Eastern Province (Kenya) Volcanoes of Kenya Maars Mountains of Kenya Volcanic crater lakes Pliocene shield volcanoes Pleistocene shield volcanoes {{volcanology-stub

See also

References

External links