Geology Picture of the Week, February 5-11, 2004: Mount Kenya

Various | Various

[cogitator]

Because it's there (nothing particular inspired this other than wondering if I could find good pictures of Mount Kenya). The last one really has a sci-fi/fantasy feel to it.

[cogitator]

ping ping ping

[ken5050]

Is Myt Kenya an extinct..i.e. erupted volcano?

[Robert A Cook PE]

With a house on it, built of material dragged/carried by hand uphill 13,000 feet?

Why would somebody do that, seeing that there are many tens of thousands of sq miles of Africa nearby with "nothing" in them all?

[cogitator]

With a house on it, built of material dragged/carried by hand uphill 13,000 feet?

I think it's a climber's hut. (Shelter from the storm)

[Robert A Cook PE]

Top is just at 17,200 feet. Shelter would be appreciated at this level climbing/up.

[cogitator]

Is Myt Kenya an extinct..i.e. erupted volcano?

Yes. Somewhat older and more eroded than Kilimanjaro, and actually bigger (in terms of base diameter).

[r9etb]

Why would somebody do that, seeing that there are many tens of thousands of sq miles of Africa nearby with "nothing" in them all?

Clearly you've never hiked in Colorado, where you'll see an incredible amount of "how did that get here?" sorts of stuff hauled in by miners.

[ken5050]

Thanks...I thought so..judging from the pic..it looks like the top 2/3's of the mountain blew up/off..

[GingisK]

Why would somebody do that, seeing that there are many tens of thousands of sq miles of Africa nearby with "nothing" in them all?

I'd like a house away from it all. The further, the better.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Both volcano's are at the old (more stable) end of the Great Rift, right?

[cogitator]

judging from the pic..it looks like the top 2/3's of the mountain blew up/off..

Most of the erosion on Mt. Kenya was done by glaciers. It's significantly older than Kilimanjaro.

[cogitator]

Both volcano's are at the old (more stable) end of the Great Rift, right?

I don't claim to understand the tectonic environment there. Kilimanjaro's peak is actually in Tanzania, and located nearby is Ol Doinyo Lengai, the world's weirdest volcano. Kenya and Kilimanjaro are both located to the east of the eastern Rift Valley. Nice map -- look how Ol Doinyo Lengai, Nyamulagira, and Nyiragongo are right in the Rift Valleys:

I would hazard a guess that the volcanism there has some similarities to the environment in Iceland, which is also sits on top of a spreading center. But I don't know how shield volcanoes interact with spreading centers.

[43north]

There are several shield volcanoes in Idaho, mostly in the eastern Snake River Plain. There is also a rift close to some of them. Others resulted from movement of the crustal plate over the Yellowstone "hotspot".

See the Craters of the Moon National Monument website for more information.