A Two Page Discussion on Vulcanicity in East Africa
WRITE A TWO PAGE DISCUSSION ON VULCANICITY IN EAST AFRICA.
SS/BSS/09/0069
11/24/2010
GEO 211 |
Vulcanicity comprises of all the processes through which emissions of magma, rock fragments called pyroclaitics and gases are released through openings in the earth’s crust. Most volcanoes appear to be explosive in nature and produce more pyroclastics than lava. The common types of vulcanoes are shield, conical and composite volcanoes. Basically, vulanicity in Eastern Africa can be categorized into four main areas comprising the causes, historical background, places of volcanic formations and the effects of vulcanicity. The countries that make up East Africa are Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania (Tanganyika and Zanzibar) with a total land area of 702,670 square miles and a population small about 53 million in 1963 including 400,000 Asians and 100,000 Europeans. Their density population is therefore sparse and their per capita income is very low.
In terms of the causes of vulcanicity in East Africa it can be elaborated in three main ways. Firstly, East Africa can be geographically defined in the high Africa zone where endogenetic processes are predominant. Secondly, most of the tectonic plates in this region are diverging or converging. And finally, the volcanoes that occur in this region are as a result of stretching and thinning of the earth’s crust called ”non-hot spots”. Interplate volcanism such as the East Africa Rift which is an active narrow zone in which the African plate is in the process of splitting into two new tectonic plates called the Somali and the Habian plate.
For the historical background of vulcanicity in East Africa, one can say that the greatest volcanic area is in Kenya and Tanganyika, although parts of Uganda consist of volcanic areas, particularly near the Virunga volcanoes and the West Nile Hills. In Kenya, most of the country round Lake Rudolf is volcanic, while farther south Laikipia and Loroki are volcanic plateau between the
SS/BSS/09/0069
11/24/2010
GEO 211 |
Vulcanicity comprises of all the processes through which emissions of magma, rock fragments called pyroclaitics and gases are released through openings in the earth’s crust. Most volcanoes appear to be explosive in nature and produce more pyroclastics than lava. The common types of vulcanoes are shield, conical and composite volcanoes. Basically, vulanicity in Eastern Africa can be categorized into four main areas comprising the causes, historical background, places of volcanic formations and the effects of vulcanicity. The countries that make up East Africa are Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania (Tanganyika and Zanzibar) with a total land area of 702,670 square miles and a population small about 53 million in 1963 including 400,000 Asians and 100,000 Europeans. Their density population is therefore sparse and their per capita income is very low.
In terms of the causes of vulcanicity in East Africa it can be elaborated in three main ways. Firstly, East Africa can be geographically defined in the high Africa zone where endogenetic processes are predominant. Secondly, most of the tectonic plates in this region are diverging or converging. And finally, the volcanoes that occur in this region are as a result of stretching and thinning of the earth’s crust called ”non-hot spots”. Interplate volcanism such as the East Africa Rift which is an active narrow zone in which the African plate is in the process of splitting into two new tectonic plates called the Somali and the Habian plate.
For the historical background of vulcanicity in East Africa, one can say that the greatest volcanic area is in Kenya and Tanganyika, although parts of Uganda consist of volcanic areas, particularly near the Virunga volcanoes and the West Nile Hills. In Kenya, most of the country round Lake Rudolf is volcanic, while farther south Laikipia and Loroki are volcanic plateau between the
References: 1. http://www.geosc.psu.edu/~jrogie/ans11-3.html 2. Harrison, Clarke, Clarke, Henderson. Africa and the Islands. Great Britain,Spottiswoode,Ballautyne and Co.