(formerly ' or ''Clarence Peak''), located on the island of

Bioko Bioko (; ; ; historically known as Fernando Pó, ) is an island of Equatorial Guinea. It is located south of the coast of Cameroon, and northwest of the northernmost part of mainland Equatorial Guinea. Malabo, on the north coast of the is ...

, is the tallest mountain of

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

. With an elevation of 9,878 ft (3,011 m), it is the summit of the largest and highest of three overlapping

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, 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 planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a 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 viscous lava ...

es which form the island. From the summit, Mount Cameroon can be seen to the north-east. Pico Basilé lies close to the city of

Malabo Malabo ( , ; formerly ) is the capital of Equatorial Guinea in the province of Bioko Norte. It is located on the north coast of the island of Bioko (, and as ''Fernando Pó'' by the Europeans). In 2018, the city had a population of approxim ...

. The very top is used as a broadcast transmitting station for RTVGE (Radio Television Guinea Ecuatorial) and microwave relay station for various communication networks. The peak forms a part of Pico Basilé National Park, created in April 2000 The boundaries of Bioko Norte and Sur runs near the summit. All three shield volcanoes on Bioko Island are listed within the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program database of active volcanoes, though only Pico Basilé has erupted in historic times (most recently in 1923). Bioko was formed along the Cameroon line, a major northeast-trending

geologic fault In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

that runs from the Atlantic Ocean into

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. This line includes other volcanic islands in the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea (French language, French: ''Golfe de Guinée''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Golfo de Guinea''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Golfo da Guiné'') is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez i ...

such as Annobón,

Príncipe Príncipe (; ) is the smaller, northern major island of the country of São Tomé and Príncipe lying off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. It has an area of (including offshore islets) and a population of 7,324 at the 2012 Cens ...

and São Tomé, along with the massive

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

of Mount Cameroon. The other island volcanoes to the SW of Bioko Island are extinct.

Flora and fauna

Part of the Cameroon line, the flora and fauna of Pico Basilé and

as a whole are similar to that of the montane regions of adjacent

and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. Multiple range restricted species occur on Pico Basilé, and one bird, the Bioko Speirops ''Zoterops brunneus'', is wholly restricted to the volcano's higher elevations.

History

The island was inhabited in the middle of the first millennium BC by Bantu tribes from the mainland, who formed the Bubi ethnic group. Unlike other islands in the area, Bioko had an indigenous African population. The Bubi speak a Bantu language. The island has probably been inhabited by this or other Bantu-speaking groups since before the 7th century BC. In 1472, the Portuguese navigator Fernão do Pó was the first European to sight the island while seeking a path to India. The first ascent of the mountain by Europeans was made by English commanders between 1827 and 1828 under the Owen expedition. Its first official ascent was made in 1839 by the British John Beecroft who was later governor of the island that was once Fernando Po, now Bioko.

References

Sources

*
Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program
Bioko Mountains of Equatorial Guinea Shield volcanoes of Equatorial Guinea Volcanoes of the Atlantic Ocean Highest points of countries Polygenetic shield volcanoes {{Highest points of Africa

Flora and fauna

History

See also

References

Sources