Menengai Volcano
Updated: Apr 19, 2024 11:33 GMT -
Shield volcano 2278 m / 7,474 ft
Kenya, -0.2°S / 36.07°E
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)
Kenya, -0.2°S / 36.07°E
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)
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Menengai volcano eruptions: 6050 BC (?)
Latest nearby earthquakes
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Background
The massive Menengai shield volcano occupies the floor of the East African Rift. Construction of a 30 cu km 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. The first took place about 29,000 years ago and produced a large caldera. The second major eruption, producing about 30 cu km of compositionally zoned peralkaline trachytic magma about 8000 years ago, was associated with formation of the present-day 12 x 8 km summit caldera. More than 70 post-caldera lava flows cover the caldera floor, the youngest of which may be only a few hundred years old. No historical eruptions are known from Menengai. Fumarolic activity is restricted to the caldera.---
Smithsonian / GVP volcano information
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