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Kenya · Shield volcano

Menengai

Type
Shield volcano
Elevation
2278m
Last eruption
-6050
Menengai
Photo: Tr Brian mwangi · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Shield volcano
Country
Kenya
Region
Eastern Africa / Kenyan Rift Volcanic Province
Elevation
2278m
Coordinates
-0.200, 36.070
Last eruption
-6050
Tectonic setting
Rift zone / Continental crust (> 25 km)
Landform
Shield
Major rock type
Trachyte / Trachydacite

Geological summary

The massive Menengai shield volcano occupies the floor of the East African Rift. Construction of a 30 km3 shield volcano beginning about 200,000 years ago was followed by the eruption of two voluminous ash-flow tuffs, each preceded by major pumice falls.

Excerpt from the Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institution · Read the full summary on GVP →

From Wikipedia

Menengai Crater is a massive shield volcano with one of the biggest calderas in the world, in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya. It is the largest volcano caldera in Kenya and the second largest volcano caldera in Africa. Volcanic formed rich loam soils enrich the adjacent farmland around its flanks. The crater is on the floor of the Rift Valley. 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 the Geothermal Development Company is at an advanced stage towards geothermal power generation.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

2 recordedGlossary

Record summary

Confirmed eruptions
2
Uncertain eruptions
0
Span of confirmed record
7350 BCE (±500 yrs) – 6050 BCE
Largest confirmed eruption
VEI 6 (6050 BCE)
Confirmed eruptions since 1900
0
Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions · Use arrow keys to move between bars, Enter to open
7350 BCE~7220 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?6180 BCE~6050 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 67350 BCE7090 BCE6700 BCE6440 BCE6180 BCE

Detailed timeline

  1. 6050 BCEVEI 6Geological estimate
    6050 BCE – end unknown
  2. 7350 BCE (±500 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    7350 BCE – end unknown

Nearby volcanoes

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.