Kilimanjaro, Tanzania: Kilimanjaro (elevation 5875 m) is a
complex of three volcanic peaks in the Kenya branch of the East
African rift, just south of the Kenya-Tanzania border. Rift volcanism
in this region includes fissure and fault eruptions along the floor
of the rift, but the largest volcanoes are at intersections of
north-trending rift-valley faults and the ancient, northwest-trending
Aswa fault zone. Volcanoes at such intersections are commonly
long-lived; Kilimanjaro has erupted episodically for almost a million
years, and Reusch crater on the Kibo summit may be only a few hundred
years old, as steam and sulfur fumaroles are still active.
Kilimanjaro is capped by glacial relics of the last ice age. Field
studies indicate that most of Kilimanjaro was once covered by much as
100m of ice and that glaciers extended well down the mountainsides.
The most extensive remaining glaciers are on the southern and
southwestern flanks.
Mt. Kilimanjaro’s Receding Glaciers: Mt.
Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), the highest point in all Africa, was
photographed by the crew of Space Shuttle mission STS-97 on December
2, 2000. Kilimanjaro (Kilima Njaro or "shining mountain" in Swahili)
is capped by glaciers on its southern and southwestern flanks.
The glaciers and snow cap covered a far greater area ten years prior
to the view above. Compare the photograph above with a photograph of Kilimanjaro taken in November 1990
by the Space Shuttle mission STS-38 crew. |
