Mount Kilimanjaro is a massive elevation of volcanic origin located in East Africa, in Tanzania. It reaches an altitude of 5,895 m (19,340 feet), which is the highest point on the continent. This volcanic massif was formed from the merger of three dormant volcanoes: Kibo (5,895 m), Mawensi (5,355 m), and Shira (4,006 m). Kibo’s crater, up to 2.5 km wide and up to 180 m deep, has an inner cone with a relative height of about 580 m and a crater more than 800 m wide. It was climbed for the first time in 1889, and it is a great tourist attraction.
Lying about 160 km (100 miles) east of the East African Rift System, Mount Kilimanjaro is a dormant stratovolcano that consists of three cones; Kibo, Mawensi, and Shira. The volcanic activity of the Shira cone began 2.5 million years ago, while Kibo and Mawensi started to erupt one million years ago as these two cones are separated by the Saddle Plateau at an altitude of 4,400 m (14,400 feet) . Geologically, it is composed mainly of trachybasalts and phonolites, which are volcanic extrusive rocks composed of feldspars.
On the humid southern and southwestern slopes, at an elevation of about 3,100 m, annual precipitation ranges from 1,000 to 3,000 mm. From the foothills to 1,000 m, the slopes are covered with savannas, and coffee and banana plantations, growing on the site of cut forests, are found to 1,800 m. Tropical rain forests with epiphytes and ferns extend to 3,100 m, tropical alpine vegetation (paramos) is found to 4,200 m of altitude, and xerophytic pulvinate grasses grow to 4,800 m. Above 4,800 m are lava fields, and on the crests, glacial relief forms predominate, with glaciers descending as far as 4,300 m on the western slopes.
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| Mount Kilimanjaro; Kibo cone (5,895 m). |
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