1.
Greater flamingo
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The greater flamingo is the most widespread species of the flamingo family. It is found in Africa, on the Indian subcontinent, in the Middle East and this is the largest species of flamingo, averaging 110–150 cm tall and weighing 2–4 kg. The largest male flamingos have been recorded at up to 187 cm tall and 4.5 kg and it is closely related to the American flamingo and Chilean flamingo, with which it has sometimes been considered conspecific. Like all flamingos, this species lays a single egg on a mud mound. Most of the plumage is white, but the wing coverts are red. The bill is pink with a black tip, and the legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking, sub-adult flamingos are whitish grey and only attain the pink coloration several years into their adult life. The coloration comes from the pigments in the organisms that live in their feeding grounds. Secretions of the uropygial gland also contain carotenoids, during the breeding season, greater flamingos increase the frequency of their spreading uropygial secretions over their feathers and thereby enhance their color. This cosmetic use of uropygial secretions has been described as applying make-up, the bird resides in mudflats and shallow coastal lagoons with salt water. Using its feet, the bird stirs up the mud, then sucks water through its bill and filters out small shrimp, seeds, blue-green algae, microscopic organisms and mollusks. The greater flamingo feeds with its head down and its jaw is movable. It is found in parts of Africa, southern Asia, the Middle East, the most northern breeding spot is the Zwillbrocker Venn in Western Germany, close to the border with the Netherlands. In Gujarat, a state of India, flamingos can be observed at the Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary, Flamingo City and they remain here during entire winter season. The average lifespan in captivity, according to Zoo Basel, is over 60 years, the first recorded zoo hatch was in 1959 at Zoo Basel. In Zoo Basels breeding program over 400 birds have been hatched with an average of between 20 and 27 per year since 2000, the oldest known greater flamingo was a bird at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia who died aged at least 83 years old. The birds exact age is not known, he was already an adult when he arrived in Adelaide in 1933. He was euthanized in January 2014 due to complications of old age, adult flamingos have few natural predators
2.
Lesser flamingo
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The lesser flamingo is a species of flamingo occurring in sub-Saharan Africa with another population in India. Birds are occasionally reported from north, but these are generally considered vagrants. Until 2014, it was classified in genus Phoenicopterus but is now classified as the species in the genus Phoeniconaias. The lesser flamingo is the smallest species of flamingo, though it is a tall, the species can weigh from 1.2 to 2.7 kg. The standing height is around 80 to 90 cm, the total length and wingspan are in the same range of measurements, from 90 to 105 cm. Most of the plumage is pinkish white, the clearest difference between this species and the greater flamingo, the only other Old World species of flamingo, is the much more extensive black on the bill. Size is less helpful unless the species are together, since the sexes of each species also differ in height, the lesser flamingo may be the most numerous species of flamingo, with a population that probably numbers up to two million individual birds. This species feeds primarily on Spirulina, algae which grow only in alkaline lakes. Presence of flamingo herds near water bodies is indication of sodic alkaline water which is not suitable for irrigation use, although blue-green in colour, the algae contain the photosynthetic pigments that give the birds their pink colour. Their deep bill is specialised for filtering tiny food items, the lesser flamingo also feeds on shrimp. Lesser flamingos are prey to a variety of species, including storks, baboons, African fish eagles, wildcats. In Africa, where they are most numerous, the flamingos breed principally on the highly caustic Lake Natron in northern Tanzania. Their other African breeding sites are at Etosha Pan, Sua Pan, the last confirmed breeding at Aftout es Saheli in coastal Mauritania was in 1965. Breeding occurred at Lake Magadi in Kenya in 1962 when Lake Natron was unsuitable due to flooding, in the early 20th century, breeding was also observed at Lake Nakuru. The species also breeds in southwestern and southern Asia, in 1974, they bred at the Rann of Kutch, but since then only at the Zinzuwadia and Purabcheria salt pans in north-western India. There is some amount of movement of individuals between Africa and India, like all flamingos, they lay a single chalky white egg on a mound they build of mud. Chicks join creches soon after hatching, sometimes numbering over a thousand individuals. The creches are marshalled by a few birds who lead them by foot to fresh water
3.
East African Rift
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The East African Rift is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago, in the past, it was considered to be part of a larger Great Rift Valley that extended north to Asia Minor. As extension continues, lithospheric rupture will occur within 10 million years, the Somalian plate will break off, a series of distinct rift basins, the East African Rift System extends over thousands of kilometers. The EAR consists of two main branches, the Eastern Rift Valley includes the Main Ethiopian Rift, running eastward from the Afar Triple Junction, which continues south as the Kenyan Rift Valley. The Western Rift Valley includes the Albertine Rift, and farther south, to the north of the Afar Triple Junction, the rift follows one of two paths, west to the Red Sea Rift or east to the Aden Ridge in the Gulf of Aden. The EAR runs from the Afar Triple Junction in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia through eastern Africa, the EAR transects through Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique. The Davie Ridge ranges between 30–120 km wide, with a west facing scarp along the half of its length that rises up to 2300 m above the sea floor. Its movement is concurrent with the EAR, over time, many theories have tried to clarify the evolution of the East African Rift. In 1972 it was proposed that the EAR was not caused by tectonic activity, others proposed an African superplume causing mantle deformation. However, the varying geochemical signatures of a suite of Ethiopian lavas suggest multiple plume sources, at least one of deep mantle origin, additionally, the subject of deep-rooted mantle plumes is still a matter of controversy, and therefore cannot be confirmed. The most recent and accepted view is the theory put forth in 2009, at that time it was suggested that lithospheric thinning generated volcanic activity, further increasing the magmatic processes at play such as intrusions and numerous small plumes. These processes further thin the lithosphere in saturated areas, forcing the thinning lithosphere to behave like a mid-ocean ridge, prior to rifting, enormous continental flood basalts erupted on the surface and uplift of the Ethiopian, Somalian, and East African plateaus occurred. The first stage of rifting of the EAR is characterized by rift localization, periods of extension alternated with times of relative inactivity. There was also the reactivation of a weakness in the crust, a suture zone of multiple cratons, displacement along large boundary faults. The second stage of rifting is characterized by the deactivation of large boundary faults, the development of internal fault segments, today, the narrow rift segments of the East African Rift system form zones of localized strain. These rifts are the result of the actions of numerous faults which are typical of all tectonic rift zones. The African continental crust is generally cool and strong, many cratons are found throughout the EAR, such as the Tanzania and Kaapvaal cratons. The cratons are thick, and have survived for billions of years with little tectonic activity and they are characterized by greenstone belts, tonalites, and other high-grade metamorphic lithologies
4.
Ecoregion
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An ecoregion is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than an ecozone. All three of these are less or greater than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, the biodiversity of flora, fauna and ecosystems that characterise an ecoregion tends to be distinct from that of other ecoregions. Three caveats are appropriate for all bio-geographic mapping approaches, firstly, no single bio-geographic framework is optimal for all taxa. Ecoregions reflect the best compromise for as many taxa as possible, secondly, ecoregion boundaries rarely form abrupt edges, rather, ecotones and mosaic habitats bound them. Thirdly, most ecoregions contain habitats that differ from their assigned biome, biogeographic provinces may originate due to various barriers. Some physical, some climatic and some ocean chemical related, the history of the term is somewhat vague as it was used in many contexts, forest classifications, biome classifications, biogeographic classifications, etc. The concept of ecoregion of Bailey gives more importance to ecological criteria, while the WWF concept gives more importance to biogeography, there is significant, but not absolute, spatial correlation among these characteristics, making the delineation of ecoregions an imperfect science. Such transition zones are called ecotones, Ecoregions can be categorized using an algorithmic approach or a holistic, “weight-of-evidence” approach where the importance of various factors may vary. An example of the approach is Robert Bailey’s work for the U. S. The intended purpose of ecoregion delineation may affect the method used, according to WWF, the boundaries of an ecoregion approximate the original extent of the natural communities prior to any major recent disruptions or changes. WWF has identified 867 terrestrial ecoregions, and approximately 450 freshwater ecoregions across the Earth, the use of the term ecoregion is an outgrowth of a surge of interest in ecosystems and their functioning. In particular, there is awareness of issues relating to spatial scale in the study and it is widely recognized that interlinked ecosystems combine to form a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by WWF as priorities for conservation, Terrestrial ecoregions are land ecoregions, as distinct from freshwater and marine ecoregions. In this context, terrestrial is used to mean of land, WWF ecologists currently divide the land surface of the Earth into 8 major ecozones containing 867 smaller terrestrial ecoregions. The WWF effort is a synthesis of previous efforts to define. Many consider this classification to be decisive, and some propose these as stable borders for bioregional democracy initiatives. The eight terrestrial ecozones follow the major floral and faunal boundaries, identified by botanists and zoologists, ecozone boundaries generally follow continental boundaries, or major barriers to plant and animal distribution, like the Himalayas and the Sahara
5.
Biodiversity
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Biodiversity, a contraction of biological diversity, generally refers to the variety and variability of life on Earth. One of the most widely used definitions defines it in terms of the variability within species and it is a measure of the variety of organisms present in different ecosystems. This can refer to genetic variation, ecosystem variation, or species variation within an area, biome, terrestrial biodiversity tends to be greater near the equator, which seems to be the result of the warm climate and high primary productivity. Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth, and is richest in the tropics and these tropical forest ecosystems cover less than 10 per cent of earths surface, and contain about 90 percent of the worlds species. Marine biodiversity tends to be highest along coasts in the Western Pacific, there are latitudinal gradients in species diversity. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time, the number and variety of plants, animals and other organisms that exist is known as biodiversity. It is a component of nature and it ensures the survival of human species by providing food, fuel, shelter, medicines. The richness of biodiversity depends on the conditions and area of the region. All species of plants taken together are known as flora and about 300,000 species of plants are known to date, all species of animals taken together are known as fauna which includes birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, insects, crustaceans, molluscs, etc. Rapid environmental changes typically cause mass extinctions, more than 99 percent of all species, amounting to over five billion species, that ever lived on Earth are estimated to be extinct. Estimates on the number of Earths current species range from 10 million to 14 million, of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86 percent have not yet been described. More recently, in May 2016, scientists reported that 1 trillion species are estimated to be on Earth currently with only one-thousandth of one percent described, the total amount of related DNA base pairs on Earth is estimated at 5.0 x 1037 and weighs 50 billion tonnes. In comparison, the mass of the biosphere has been estimated to be as much as 4 TtC. In July 2016, scientists reported identifying a set of 355 genes from the Last Universal Common Ancestor of all living on Earth. The age of the Earth is about 4.54 billion years old, there are microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone discovered in Western Australia. Other early physical evidence of a substance is graphite in 3.7 billion-year-old meta-sedimentary rocks discovered in Western Greenland. More recently, in 2015, remains of life were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. According to one of the researchers, If life arose relatively quickly on Earth, then it could be common in the universe
6.
Soda lake
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A soda lake or alkaline lake is a lake on the strongly alkaline side of neutrality. They are characterized by high concentrations of salts, typically sodium carbonate. In addition, many lakes also contain high concentrations of sodium chloride and other dissolved salts. High pH and salinity often coincide, because of how soda lakes develop, the resulting hypersaline and highly alkalic soda lakes are considered some of the most extreme aquatic environments on Earth. In spite of their apparent inhospitability, soda lakes are often highly productive ecosystems, gross primary production rates above 10 g C m−2 day−1, over 16 times the global average for lakes and streams, have been measured. This makes them the most productive aquatic environments on Earth, an important reason for the high productivity is the virtually unlimited availability of dissolved carbon dioxide. Soda lakes occur naturally throughout the world, typically in arid and semi-arid areas, the pH of most freshwater lakes is on the alkaline side of neutrality and many exhibit similar water chemistries to soda lakes, only less extreme. In order for a lake to become alkalic, a combination of geographic, geological. First of all, a suitable topography is needed, that limits the outflow of water from the lake, when the outflow is completely prevented, this is called an endorheic basin. Craters or depressions formed by tectonic rifting often provide such topological depressions, the high alkalinity and salinity arise through evaporation of the lake water. This requires suitable conditions, in order for the inflow to balance outflow through evaporation. Another critical geological condition for the formation of a lake is the relative absence of soluble magnesium or calcium. This results in a salt lake instead. A good example is the Dead Sea, which is rich in Mg2+. In some soda lakes, inflow of Ca2+ through subterranean seeps, in Mono Lake, California and Lake Van, Turkey, such precipitation has formed columns of tufa rising above the lake surface. Many soda lakes are strongly stratified, with well-oxygenated upper layer, stratification can be permanent, or with seasonal mixing. The depth of the interface separating the two layers varies from a few centimeters to near the bottom sediments, depending on local conditions. In either case, it represents an important barrier, both physically and between strongly contrasting biochemical conditions, a rich diversity of microbial life inhabit soda lakes, often in dense concentrations
7.
Cichlid
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Cichlids /ˈsɪklᵻdz/ are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. Cichlids are members of a known as Labroidei, along with the wrasses, damselfishes. This family is large and diverse. At least 1,650 species have been described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families. New species are discovered annually, and many species remain undescribed, the actual number of species is therefore unknown, with estimates varying between 2,000 and 3,000. Cichlids are popular freshwater fish kept in the home aquarium, Cichlids span a wide range of body sizes, from species as small as 2.5 cm in length to much larger species approaching 1 m in length. As a group, cichlids exhibit a diversity of body shapes, ranging from strongly laterally compressed species to species that are cylindrical. Generally, however, cichlids tend to be of size, ovate in shape, and slightly laterally compressed, and generally similar to the North American sunfishes in morphology, behavior. Many cichlids, particularly tilapia, are important food fishes, while others are valued game fish, the family also includes many familiar aquarium fish, including the angelfish, oscars, and discus. Cichlids have the largest number of endangered species among vertebrate families and their diversity in the African Great Lakes is important for the study of speciation in evolution. Many cichlids introduced into waters outside of their range have become nuisances. Cichlids share a key trait, the fusion of the lower pharyngeal bones into a single tooth-bearing structure. Cichlids are efficient and often highly specialized feeders that capture and process a wide variety of food items. This is assumed to be one reason why they are so diverse, Cichlids vary in body shape, ranging from compressed and disc-shaped, to triangular to elongated and cylindrical. A ninth subfamily, Ptychochrominae, was recognized by Sparks. Cichlid taxonomy is still debated, and classification of genera cannot yet be definitively given, a comprehensive system of assigning species to monophyletic genera is still lacking, and there is not complete agreement on what genera should be recognized in this family. As an example of the problems, Kullander placed the African genus Heterochromis phylogenetically within Neotropical cichlids. Other problems center upon the identity of the common ancestor for the Lake Victoria superflock
8.
World Wildlife Fund
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It was formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States. It is the worlds largest conservation organization with five million supporters worldwide, working in more than 100 countries, supporting around 1,300 conservation. WWF is a foundation, with 55% of funding from individuals and bequests, 19% from government sources, the groups mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. Currently, much of its work concentrates on the conservation of three biomes that contain most of the biodiversity, oceans and coasts, forests. Among other issues, it is concerned with endangered species, sustainable production of commodities. The Conservation Foundation, a precursor to WWF, was founded in 1947 by Fairfield Osborn in New York City in support of capitalism-friendly ecological practices. The advisory council included leading scientists such as Charles Sutherland Elton, G Evelyn Hutchinson, Aldo Leopold, Carl Sauer, and Paul Sears. It supported much of the work cited by Rachel Carsons Silent Spring, including that of John L. George, Roger Hale, Robert Rudd. In 1990, the Conservation Foundation was merged into WWF, after becoming an affiliate of WWF in 1985, the organization now known as the Conservation Foundation in the United States is the former Forest Foundation of DuPage County. The idea for a fund on behalf of endangered animals was initially proposed by Victor Stolan to Sir Julian Huxley in response to articles he published in the British newspaper The Observer, nicholson thought up the name of the organization. WWF was conceived on 29 April 1961, under the name of World Wildlife Fund, godfrey A. Rockefeller also played an important role in its creation, assembling the first staff. For sending experts to danger spots and training, making it all possible that their needs are met before it is too late. WWF has set up offices and operations around the world, the organization also began to run its own conservation projects and campaigns, and by the 1980s started to take a more strategic approach to its conservation activities. In 1986, the changed its name to World Wide Fund for Nature. However, it continued at that time to operate under the name in the United States. We shant save all we should like to, but we shall save a great deal more than if we had never tried, – Sir Peter Scott In 1996, the organization obtained general consultative status from UNESCO. WWFs giant panda logo originated from a panda named Chi Chi that had transferred from Beijing Zoo to London Zoo in 1958. The logo was founded by Young in 1966, the organization also needed an animal that would have an impact in black and white printing
9.
Global 200
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The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by WWF, the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. So, for example, based on their levels of endemism, Madagascar gets multiple listings, ancient Lake Baikal gets one, the WWF assigns a conservation status to each ecoregion in the Global 200, critical or endangered, vulnerable, and relatively stable or intact. Over half of the ecoregions in the Global 200 are rated endangered, the WWF has identified 867 terrestrial ecoregions across the Earths land surface, as well as freshwater and marine ecoregions. The goal of classification system is to ensure that the full range of ecosystems will be represented in regional conservation. Of these ecoregions, the WWF selected the Global 200 as the ecoregions most crucial to the conservation of global biodiversity, the Global 200 list actually contains 238 ecoregions, made up of 142 terrestrial,53 freshwater, and 43 marine ecoregions. Several habitats, such as Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, were determined to be more threatened than tropical rain forests, historically, zoologists and botanists have developed various classification systems that take into account the worlds plant and animal communities. Two of the classification systems most commonly used today were summarized by Miklos Udvardy in 1975. The biome system classifies the world into ecosystem types based on climate, each biogeographical realm contains multiple biomes, and biomes occur across several biogeographical realms. The WWF system represents a refinement of the system of biomes, biogeographical realms. Based on a comprehensive list of ecoregions, The Global 200 includes all major types, all ecosystem types. It focuses on each major type of every continent. It uses ecoregions as the unit of scale for comparison, WWF say ecoregions could be considered as conservation units at regional scale because they meet similar biological communities. Some ecoregions were selected over other ecoregions of the major habitat type or ecozone. Selection of the Global 200 relied on studies of 19 terrestrial, freshwater. Selection of the ecoregions was based on analyses of species richness, species endemism, unique higher taxa, unusual ecological or evolutionary phenomena, and global rarity of major habitat type. Global 200 ecoregion list is most helpful to conservation efforts at a scale, local deforestation, destruction of swamp habitats, degradation of soils. However, certain phenomena, such as bird or whale migration, depend on more complex parameters not used to define the current database, such as atmospheric currents and these would require gathering more information, and co-ordination of efforts between multiple ecoregions. However, the Global 200 ecoregions can help these efforts by identifying habitat sites and it may also help identify the origin of invasive species, and offer insights for slowing down or stopping their intrusion
10.
Lake Malawi
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It is the ninth largest lake in the world and the third largest and second deepest lake in Africa. It is home to species of fish than any other lake. The Mozambique portion of the lake was declared a reserve by the Government of Mozambique on June 10,2011. Lake Malawi is a lake, meaning that its water layers do not mix. The permanent stratification of Lake Malawis water and the boundary are maintained by moderately small chemical and thermal gradients. Lake Malawi is between 560 kilometres and 580 kilometres long, and about 75 kilometres wide at its widest point, the total surface area of the lake is about 29,600 square kilometres. The lake has shorelines on western Mozambique, eastern Malawi, the largest river flowing into it is the Ruhuhu River, and there is an outlet at its southern end, the Shire River, a tributary that flows into the very large Zambezi River in Mozambique. Malawi is one of the major Rift Valley lakes, the lake lies in a valley formed by the opening of the East African Rift, where the African tectonic plate is being split into two pieces. This is called a divergent plate tectonics boundary and it is variously estimated at about 40,000 years old or about one to two million years. The lake is about 350 kilometres southeast of Lake Tanganyika, another of the lakes of the East African Rift. The Lake Malawi National Park is located at the end of the lake. The lakes water is alkaline and warm with a surface temperature between 24 and 29 °C, while deep sections typically are about 22 °C. The oxygen limit is at a depth of approximately 250 m, effectively restricting fish and other aerobic organisms to the upper part. The water is clear for a lake and the visibility can be up to 20 m. The Portuguese trader Candido José da Costa Cardoso was the first European to visit the lake in 1846, David Livingstone reached the lake in 1859, and named it Lake Nyasa. Rhoadess crew found the Hermann von Wissmann in a bay near Sphinxhaven, gwendolen disabled the German boat with a single cannon shot from a range of about 1,800 metres. This very brief gunboat conflict was hailed by The Times in England as the British Empires first naval victory of World War I, the Lake of Stars is the nickname for Lake Malawi coined by David Livingstone. This name came about due to lights from the lanterns of the fishermen in Malawi on their boats, the lake is also known as the Lake of Storms, for the unpredictable and extremely violent gales that sweep through the area
11.
Lake Tanganyika
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Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake. It is the second oldest freshwater lake in the world, second largest by volume, the lake is divided among four countries – Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Zambia, with Tanzania and DRC possessing the majority of the lake. The water flows into the Congo River system and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean, the name apparently refers to Tanganika, the great lake spreading out like a plain, or plain-like lake. Lake Tanganyika is situated within the Albertine Rift, the branch of the East African Rift. It is the largest rift lake in Africa and the second largest lake by volume in the world and it is the deepest lake in Africa and holds the greatest volume of fresh water, accounting for 18% of the worlds available fresh water. It extends for 676 km in a general direction and averages 50 km in width. The lake covers 32,900 km2, with a shoreline of 1,828 km, a depth of 570 m. It holds an estimated 18,900 cubic kilometres and this is equivalent to about 16% of all fresh water on Earth. The catchment area of the lake is 231,000 km2, two main rivers flow into the lake, as well as numerous smaller rivers and streams. There is one major outflow, the Lukuga River, which empties into the Congo River drainage, the major river flowing into the lake is the Ruzizi River, formed about 10,000 years ago, which enters the north of the lake from Lake Kivu. The Malagarasi River, which is Tanzanias second largest river, enters the east side of Lake Tanganyika, the Malagarasi is older than Lake Tanganyika and, before the lake was formed, directly drained into the Congo River. Apparently it has rarely in the past had an outflow to the sea and it has been described as practically endorheic for this reason. The lakes connection to the sea is dependent on a water level allowing water to overflow out of the lake through the Lukunga into the Congo. Due to the tropical location, it has a high rate of evaporation. Thus it depends on a high inflow through the Ruzizi out of Lake Kivu to keep the lake high enough to overflow. Signs of ancient shorelines indicate that at times Tanganyika may have been up to 300 m lower than its present surface level, even its current outlet is intermittent and may not have been operating when first visited by Western explorers in 1858. Lake Tanganyika is an ancient lake and its three basins, which in periods with much lower water levels were separate lakes, are of different ages. The central began to form 9—12 million years ago, the northern 7—8 mya, there are several islands in Lake Tanganyika
12.
Lake Victoria
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Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named after Queen Victoria by the explorer John Hanning Speke, Speke accomplished this in 1858, while on an expedition with Richard Francis Burton to locate the source of the Nile River. In terms of volume, Lake Victoria is the ninth largest continental lake. Lake Victoria receives its water primarily from rainfall and thousands of small streams. The Kagera River is the largest river flowing into this lake, Lake Victoria is drained solely by the Nile River near Jinja, Uganda, on the lakes northern shore. Lake Victoria occupies a depression in Africa. The lake has a depth of 84 metres and an average depth of 40 metres. Its catchment area covers 184,000 square kilometres, geologically, Lake Victoria is relatively young – about 400,000 years old – and it formed when westward-flowing rivers were dammed by an upthrown crustal block. During its geological history, Lake Victoria went through changes ranging from its present shallow depression, geological cores taken from its bottom show Lake Victoria has dried up completely at least three times since it formed. These drying cycles are probably related to past ice ages, which were times when precipitation declined globally, Lake Victoria last dried out about 17,300 years ago, and it refilled 14,700 years ago. Lake Victoria receives 80 percent of its water from direct rainfall, average evaporation on the lake is between 2.0 and 2.2 metres per year, almost double the precipitation of riparian areas. In the Kenya sector, the main influent rivers are the Sio, Nzoia, Yala, Nyando, Sondu Miriu, Mogusi, combined, these rivers contribute far more water to the lake than does the largest single river entering the lake from the west, the Kagera River. The only outflow from Lake Victoria is the Nile River, which exits the lake near Jinja, in terms of contributed water, this makes Lake Victoria the principal source of the longest branch of the Nile. The uppermost section of the Nile is generally known as the Victoria Nile until it reaches Lake Albert, in 1990–1991, oxygen concentrations in the mixed layer were higher than in 1960–1961, with nearly continuous oxygen supersaturation in surface waters. The changes in oxygenation are considered consistent with measurements of higher algal biomass, the extinction of cichlids in the genus Haplochromis has also been blamed on the lakes eutrophication. The fertility of tropical waters depends on the rate at which nutrients can be brought into solution, the influent rivers of Lake Victoria provide few nutrients to the lake in relation to its size. Because of this, most of Lake Victorias nutrients are thought to be locked up in lake-bottom deposits, by itself, this vegetative matter decays slowly. Animal flesh decays considerably faster, however, so the fertility of the lake is dependent on the rate at which nutrients can be taken up by fish
13.
Ethiopian Rift Valley
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The Great Rift Valley of Ethiopia, is a branch of the East African Rift that runs through Ethiopia in a southwest direction from the Afar Triple Junction. In the past, it was seen as part of a Great Rift Valley that ran from Mozambique to Syria, the Great Rift Valley lies between the Ethiopian Plateau to the north and the Somalia Plateau to the south. The rift developed as the Nubian and Somalian plates began to separate during the Miocene Period along the East African rift system, the rift is extending in an ESE-WNW direction at about 5-7 millimetres annually. These faults are now thought to be inactive at the rift valley termination. The rift floor is cut by a series of en echelon, right-stepping. These basins are about 20 kilometres wide and 60 kilometres long, in the northern part of the rift, extension within the valley is now thought to be mainly along these faulted and magmatically active segments. These segments are considered to be developing mid ocean ridge spreading centers, the Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes are the northernmost of the African Rift Valley Lakes. The Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes occupy the floor of the valley between the two highlands. Most of the Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes do not have an outlet, the major ones are Lake Abaya, the largest Ethiopian Rift Valley lake Lake Chamo Lake Zway Lake Shala, the deepest Ethiopian Rift Valley lake Lake Koka Lake Langano Lake Abijatta Lake Awasa
14.
Ethiopia
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Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north and northeast, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. With nearly 100 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and it occupies a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres, and its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa. Some of the oldest evidence for modern humans has been found in Ethiopia. It is widely considered as the region from modern humans first set out for the Middle East. According to linguists, the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations settled in the Horn region during the ensuing Neolithic era, tracing its roots to the 2nd millennium BC, Ethiopia was a monarchy for most of its history. During the first centuries AD, the Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region, subsequently, many African nations adopted the colors of Ethiopias flag following their independence. It was the first independent African member of the 20th-century League of Nations, Ethiopias ancient Geez script, also known as Ethiopic, is one of the oldest alphabets still in use in the world. The Ethiopian calendar, which is seven years and three months behind the Gregorian calendar, co-exists alongside the Borana calendar. A slight majority of the population adheres to Christianity, while around a third follows Islam, the country is the site of the Migration to Abyssinia and the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa at Negash. A substantial population of Ethiopian Jews, known as Bete Israel, resided in Ethiopia until the 1980s, Ethiopia is a multilingual nation with around 80 ethnolinguistic groups, the four largest of which are the Oromiffa, Amhara, Somali, and Tigrayans. Most people in the country speak Afroasiatic languages of the Cushitic or Semitic branches, additionally, Omotic languages are spoken by ethnic minority groups inhabiting the southern regions. Nilo-Saharan languages are spoken by the nations Nilotic ethnic minorities. Ethiopia is the place of origin for the coffee bean which originated from the place called Kefa and it is a land of natural contrasts, with its vast fertile West, jungles, and numerous rivers, and the worlds hottest settlement of Dallol in its north. The Ethiopian Highlands are Africas largest continuous mountain ranges, and Sof Omar Caves contain Africas largest cave, Ethiopia has the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa. Ethiopia is one of the members of the UN, the Group of 24, the Non-Aligned Movement, G-77. In the 1970s and 1980s, Ethiopia suffered from civil wars, the country has begun to recover recently however, and now has the largest economy in East Africa and Central Africa. According to Global Fire Power, Ethiopia has the 42nd most powerful military in the world, the origin of the word Ethiopia is uncertain
15.
Main Ethiopian Rift
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The Great Rift Valley of Ethiopia, is a branch of the East African Rift that runs through Ethiopia in a southwest direction from the Afar Triple Junction. In the past, it was seen as part of a Great Rift Valley that ran from Mozambique to Syria, the Great Rift Valley lies between the Ethiopian Plateau to the north and the Somalia Plateau to the south. The rift developed as the Nubian and Somalian plates began to separate during the Miocene Period along the East African rift system, the rift is extending in an ESE-WNW direction at about 5-7 millimetres annually. These faults are now thought to be inactive at the rift valley termination. The rift floor is cut by a series of en echelon, right-stepping. These basins are about 20 kilometres wide and 60 kilometres long, in the northern part of the rift, extension within the valley is now thought to be mainly along these faulted and magmatically active segments. These segments are considered to be developing mid ocean ridge spreading centers, the Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes are the northernmost of the African Rift Valley Lakes. The Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes occupy the floor of the valley between the two highlands. Most of the Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes do not have an outlet, the major ones are Lake Abaya, the largest Ethiopian Rift Valley lake Lake Chamo Lake Zway Lake Shala, the deepest Ethiopian Rift Valley lake Lake Koka Lake Langano Lake Abijatta Lake Awasa
16.
Ethiopian highlands
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The Ethiopian Highlands is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia, situated in the Horn region in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its altitude in the continent, with little of its surface falling below 1500 m and it is sometimes called the Roof of Africa due to its height and large area. Most of the Ethiopian Highlands are part of central and northern Ethiopia, in the southern parts of the Ethiopian Highlands once was located the Kingdom of Kaffa, a medieval early modern state, whence the coffee plant was exported to the Arabian peninsula. The land of the kingdom is mountainous with stretches of forest. The land is fertile, capable of three harvests a year. The term coffee derives from the Arabic qahwah and is traced to Kaffa, the Highlands are divided into northwestern and southeastern portions by the Main Ethiopian Rift, which contains a number of salt lakes. The northwestern portion, which covers the Tigray and Amhara Regions, includes the Semien Mountains and its highest peak, Ras Dashan, is the highest peak in Ethiopia. Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, also lies in the portion of the Ethiopian Highlands. The southeastern portions highest peaks are located in the Bale Zone of Ethiopias Oromia Region, the Bale Mountains, also designated a national park, are nearly as high as those of Semien. The range includes peaks of over 4000 m, among these are Mount Tullu Demtu, which is the second-highest peak in Ethiopia, and Mount Batu. Most of the major cities are located at elevations of around 2, 000–2,500 m above sea level, including historic capitals such as Gondar. The Ethiopian Highlands began to rise 75 million years ago, as magma from the Earths mantle uplifted a broad dome of the ancient rocks of the Arabian-Nubian Shield. Around 30 million years ago, a basalt plateau began to form. Most of the flows were tholeiitic, save for a layer of alkali basalts and minor amounts of felsic volcanic rocks. In the waning stages of the flood basalt episode, large explosive caldera-forming eruptions also occurred, the Ethiopian Highlands were eventually bisected by the Great Rift Valley as the African continental crust pulled apart. This rifting gave rise to large alkaline basalt shield volcanoes beginning about 30–31 million years ago, the predominant climate type of the Ethiopian Highlands is tropical monsoon, and have a climate which is generally considerably cooler than other regions at similar proximity to the Equator. Because the highlands elevate Ethiopia, located close to the equator, further, these mountains catch the precipitation of the monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean, resulting in a rainy season that lasts from June until mid-September. These heavy rains cause the Nile to flood in the summer, the habitats are somewhat different on either side of the Great Rift Valley that splits the highlands
17.
Alkalinity
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Alkalinity is the name given to the quantitative capacity of an aqueous solution to neutralize an acid. Measuring alkalinity is important in determining a streams ability to neutralize acidic pollution from rainfall or wastewater and it is one of the best measures of the sensitivity of the stream to acid inputs. There can be changes in the alkalinity of streams and rivers in response to human disturbances. Alkalinity is related to the pH of a solution, but measures a different property, roughly, the alkalinity of a solution is a measure of how strong the bases are in a solution, whereas the pH measures the amount of chemical bases. A good example is a solution, which can have many available bases despite having only a moderate pH level. Alkalinity roughly refers to the amount of bases in a solution that can be converted to uncharged species by a strong acid. The cited author, James Drever, provides an equation expressed in terms of molar equivalents, which means the number of moles of each ion type multiplied by the charge of the ion. For example,1 mole of HCO31− in solution represents 1 molar equivalent, the total charge of a solution always equals zero. On the left-hand side of the equation is the sum of conservative cations minus the sum of conservative anions, balancing this on the right side is the sum of the anions that could be neutralized by added H+ ions minus H+ ions already present, as indicated by the pH. This right side term is called total alkalinity and it is, quoting Drever, formally defined as the equivalent sum of the bases that are titratable with strong acid. The listing of ions shown on the right in Drever was mHCO3− + 2mCO32− + mB4− + mH34− + mHS− + morganic anions + mOH− - mH+, total alkalinity is measured by adding a strong acid until all the anions listed above are converted to uncharged species. The total alkalinity is not affected by temperature, pressure, or pH, though the values of individual constituents are, Drever further notes that in most natural waters, all ions except HCO3− and CO3−2 have low concentrations. Thus carbonate alkalinity, which is equal to mHCO3− + 2mCO3−2 is also equal to the total alkalinity. Alkalinity or AT measures the ability of a solution to neutralize acids to the point of carbonate or bicarbonate. The alkalinity is equal to the sum of the bases in solution. Other common natural components that can contribute to alkalinity include borate, hydroxide, phosphate, silicate, dissolved ammonia, the bases of some organic acids. Solutions produced in a laboratory may contain a virtually limitless number of bases that contribute to alkalinity, Alkalinity is usually given in the unit mEq/L. Commercially, as in the pool industry, alkalinity might also be given in parts per million of equivalent calcium carbonate
18.
Limnological
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Limnology, is the study of inland waters. It is often regarded as a division of ecology or environmental science and it covers the biological, chemical, physical, geological, and other attributes of all inland waters. This includes the study of lakes and ponds, rivers, springs, streams, a more recent sub-discipline of limnology, termed landscape limnology, studies, manages, and conserves these aquatic ecosystems using a landscape perspective. Limnology is closely related to ecology and hydrobiology, which study aquatic organisms in particular regard to their hydrological environment. Although limnology is sometimes equated with science, this is erroneous since limnology also comprises the study of inland salt lakes. The term limnology was coined by François-Alphonse Forel who established the field with his studies of Lake Geneva, interest in the discipline rapidly expanded, and in 1922 August Thienemann and Einar Naumann co-founded the International Society of Limnology. Forels original definition of limnology, the oceanography of lakes, was expanded to encompass the study of all inland waters, prominent early American limnologists included G. Evelyn Hutchinson, Ed Deevey, E. A. Birge, and C. Limnology classifies lakes according to the trophic state index, an oligotrophic lake is characterised by relatively low levels of primary production and low levels of nutrients. A eutrophic lake has high levels of productivity due to very high nutrient levels. Eutrophication of a lake can lead to algal blooms, dystrophic lakes have high levels of humic matter and typically has yellow-brown, tea-coloured waters. These categories do not have rigid specifications, the system can be seen as more of a spectrum encompassing the various levels of aquatic productivity. Hynes, The Ecology of Running Waters Jacob Kalff, Limnology B, moss, Ecology of Fresh Waters Robert G. Wetzel and Gene E. Likens, Limnological Analyses, 3rd ed. Patrick E. OSullivan and Colin S. Much of the collection comes from the archives of the UW–Madison Center for Limnology and it focuses on three important pioneers of limnology, Dr. Edward A. Birge, Chancey Juday and Arthur D. Hasler, as well as Wisconsin research laboratories and field equipment. Presented by the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center, Limnological Institute of the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences
19.
Lake Abaya
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Lake Abaya is a lake in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia. In 1896 Lake Abaya was renamed Lake Margherita after the Queen Margherita of Savoy, the name Lake Margherita is still used in Italy while is now obsolete in other countries. Lake Abaya is located in the Main Ethiopian Rift, east of the Guge Mountains and it is fed on its northern shore by the Bilate which rises on the southern slopes of Mount Gurage, and the Gidabo. The town of Arba Minch lies on its shore. Just to the south is Lake Chamo, Lake Abaya is 60 kilometers long and 20 wide, with a surface area of 1162 square kilometers. It has a depth of 13.1 meters and is at an elevation of 1285 meters. There are a number of islands in this lake, the largest being Aruro, others include Gidicho, Welege, Galmaka, the lake is red due to a high load of suspended sediments. Lake Abaya does not always have an outflow, but in years it overflows into Lake Chamo. Savanna, known for its wildlife and birdlife surrounds the lake, according to the Ethiopian Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture,412 tonnes of fish are landed each year, which the department estimates is 69% of its sustainable amount. Rift Valley lakes ILEC database entry for Lake Abaya
20.
Lake Chamo
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Lake Chamo is a lake in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of southern Ethiopia. Located in the Main Ethiopian Rift, it is at an elevation of 1,110 meters, the lake is just to the south of Lake Abaya and the city of Arba Minch, and east of the Guge Mountains. Lake Chamo northern end lies in the Nechisar National Park, the lake is fringed with beds of Typha, as well as wetlands. It is fed by the Kulfo River and several small streams, oscar Neumann, exploring the area in 1901, found a dry channel connecting Lake Chamo to the Sagan River, which led him to conclude the lake contributes to the Sagan in years of heavy rainfall. Wildlife include fish like the catfish Bagrus docmak and Nile perch, as well as hippopotamus, Rift Valley lakes ILEC Database entry for Lake Chamo
21.
Lake Zway
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Lake Zway or Lake Ziway is one of the freshwater Rift Valley lakes of Ethiopia. The town of Ziway lies on the western shore. The lake is fed primarily by two rivers, the Meki from the west and the Katar from the east, and is drained by the Bulbar which empties into Lake Abijatta, the lakes catchment has an area of 7025 square kilometers. Lake Zway is 31 kilometers long and 20 km wide, with an area of 440 square kilometers. It has a depth of 9 meters and is at an elevation of 1,636 meters. According to the Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia for 1967/68, Lake Zway is 25 kilometers long and 20 km wide and it has a maximum depth of 4 meters and is at an elevation of 1,846 meters. It contains five islands, including Debre Sina, Galila, Bird Island and Tulu Gudo, the northern shores were covered by papyrus. The lake is known for its population of birds and hippopotamuses, the shores and islands of Lake Zway are the home of the Zay people. Tradition states that when the Muslim Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi conquered Ethiopia and they were later isolated from the rest of Ethiopia by the Oromo people, who settled around the lake. At the time Menelik II conquered the lands around the lake, ILEC Database entry for Lake Zway
22.
Lake Shala
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Lake Shala is an alkaline lake located in the Ethiopian Rift Valley, in the Abijatta-Shalla National Park. The lake is 28 kilometers long and 12 wide, with an area of 329 square kilometers. It has a depth of 266 meters and is at an elevation of 1,558 meters. As such, it is the deepest of Ethiopias Rift Valley lakes, known for the sulphur springs on the lake bed, its islands are inhabited by great white pelicans, one being known as Pelican Island. Lake Shala is surrounded by hot springs filled with boiling water, due to steam rising from the boiling water in the springs, the atmosphere around the lake is relatively foggy. At the southern end of the lake, there are species of flamingoes
23.
Lake Langano
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Langano is a lake in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia, exactly 200 kilometers by road south of the capital, Addis Ababa, on the border between the Misraq Shewa and Arsi Zones. The first European to record its existence, Oscar Neumann, records that it was known as Lake Kore. It is located to the east of Lake Abijatta in the Main Ethiopian Rift at an elevation of 1,585 meters. According to figures published by the Central Statistical Agency, Lake Langano is 18 kilometers long and 16 km wide, with an area of 230 square kilometers. The lake has a catchment 1600 square kilometers in size, and is drained by the Hora Kallo river which empties into the adjacent Lake Abijatta, as it is free of Bilharzia, unlike all other freshwater lakes in Ethiopia, Lake Langano is popular with tourists and city-dwellers. The lake is brown in colour and at first sight one may think that the lake is not clean. However this is not the case, the reason for the colour is due to the richness of minerals including high levels which have led many to believe that the lake water has healing properties. There are a number of resorts around the lake and water sports are popular, there is a variety of wildlife around the lake, which include hippos, monkeys, baboons, warthogs, and a huge variety of birds. The area around the lake is largely deforested, however, two earthquakes had their epicenter near this lake, the first in 1906, and the second in 1985. After the earthquake of 1906 there formed a 25 –30 m tall geyser on Edo Laki Island on the part of the lake. The geyser disappeared circa 1966 -1970, leaving a hot spring, if you are living or simply visiting Ethiopia, Langano is one of those must visit places. The high season is usually during the Christmas and Easter holidays as the close and families choose to go there for some fun. Other than swimming people can engage in other activities, such as mountain climbing, biking, fishing. Early booking at the resorts is advised as it very busy. Camping is also an option at designated areas, during the rainy season there is malaria thus it is recommended to wear trousers and long sleeves in the evening. Rift Valley lakes Late Evening on Lake Langano Nature Soundscape
24.
Lake Abijatta
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Lake Abijatta is an alkaline lake in Ethiopia. It lies in the Main Ethiopian Rift valley south of Addis Ababa, according to the Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia for 1967/68, the lake is 17 kilometers long and 15 km wide, with a surface area of 205 square kilometers. It has a depth of 14 meters and is at an elevation of 1,573 meters. Along the northeastern corner of this lake are a number of hot springs, additionally, there is a soda ash operation on the shores of this lake, which produces 20,000 tons of sodium carbonate. Proven reserves at Lake Abijata, as well as the neighboring Shala and Chitu lakes, flamingoes are also found at the lake. Rift Valley lakes ILEC database entry for Lake Abijatta
25.
Lake Awasa
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Lake Awasa is an endorheic basin in Ethiopia, located in the Main Ethiopian Rift south of Addis Ababa. According to the Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia for 1967/68, the lake is 16 km long and 9 km wide and it has a maximum depth of 10 meters and is located at an elevation of 1,708 meters. Because it is accessible to scientists, Lake Awasa is the most studied of the Rift Valley lakes in Ethiopia. Rift Valley lakes Endorheic basin Lake Awassa
26.
Lake Tana
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Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile and is the largest lake in Ethiopia. Lake Tana is fed by the Lesser Abay, Reb and Gumara rivers and its surface area ranges from 3,000 to 3,500 km, ² depending on season and rainfall. The lake level has been regulated since the construction of the control weir where the lake discharges into the Blue Nile and this controls the flow to the Blue Nile Falls and hydro-power station. Lake Tana was formed by volcanic activity, blocking the course of inflowing rivers in the early Pleistocene epoch, the lake was originally much larger than it is today. Seven large permanent rivers feed the lake as well as 40 small seasonal rivers, the main tributaries to the lake are Gilgel Abbay, and the Megech, Gumara, and Rib rivers. Lake Tana has a number of islands, whose number varies depending on the level of the lake and it has fallen about 6 feet in the last 400 years. According to Manoel de Almeida, there were 21 islands, seven to eight of which had monasteries on them formerly large, but now much diminished. When James Bruce visited the area in the later 18th century, he noted that the locals counted 45 inhabited islands, a 20th-century geographer named 37 islands, of which he believed 19 have or had monasteries or churches on them. Remains of ancient Ethiopian emperors and treasures of the Ethiopian Church are kept in the isolated island monasteries, on the island of Tana Qirqos is a rock shown to Paul B. Henze, on which he was told the Virgin Mary had rested on her back from Egypt, he was also told that Frumentius. The body of Yekuno Amlak is interred in the monastery of St. Stephen on Daga Island, emperors whose tombs are also on Daga include Dawit I, Zara Yaqob, Za Dengel, and Fasilides. Other important islands in Lake Tana include Dek, Mitraha, Gelila Zakarias, Halimun, the monasteries are believed to have been built over earlier religious sites. They include the fourteenth-century Debre Maryam, and the eighteenth-century Narga Selassie, Tana Qirqos, a ferry service links Bahir Dar with Gorgora via Dek Island and various lakeshore villages. There is also Zege Peninsula on the southwest portion of the lake, Zege is the site of the Azwa Maryam monastery. About 70% of the species in the lake are endemic. This includes one of two known cyprinid species flocks, which consists of fifteen relatively large, up to 1 m long. Eight of these are piscivorous and an important prey is the small Barbus tanapelagius, other noteworthy endemic species are Afronemacheilus abyssinicus, which is one of only two African stone loaches, and the tana subspecies of the Nile tilapia. Lake Tana supports a fishing industry, mainly based on the Labeobarbus barbs, Nile tilapia
27.
Blue Nile
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The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. With the White Nile, the river one of the two major tributaries of the Nile. The upper course of the river is called the Abbay in Ethiopia, some Ethiopians have long identified the Blue Nile as the River Gihon mentioned as flowing out of the Garden of Eden, in Genesis 2 and encircling the entire land of Cush. In the local Sudanese language, the word for black is used for the colour blue. The distance of the river from its source to its confluence has been reported as being between 1,460 kilometres and 1,600 kilometres. According to materials published by the Central Statistical Agency, the Blue Nile has a length of 1,450 kilometres. The Blue Nile flows generally south from Lake Tana and then west across Ethiopia, within 30 km of its source at Lake Tana, the river enters a canyon about 400 km long. This gorge is an obstacle for travel and communication from the north half of Ethiopia to the southern half. The power of the Blue Nile may best be appreciated at the Blue Nile Falls and this stream, known as the Lesser Abay River, flows north into Lake Tana. Other affluents of this include, in clockwise order from Gorgora, the Magech River, the Northern Gumara, the Reb River, the southern Gumara River. Lake Tanas outflow then flows some 30 kilometres before plunging over the Blue Nile Falls, the river then loops across northwest Ethiopia through a series of deep valleys and canyons into Sudan, by which point it is only known as the Blue Nile. There are numerous tributaries of the Abay between Lake Tana and the Sudanese border. Those on the side, also in downstream order, include the Handassa, Tul, Abaya, Sade, Tammi, Cha, Shita, Suha, Muga, Gulla, Temcha, Bachat, Katlan, Jiba, Chamoga, Weter. The flow of the Blue Nile reaches maximum volume in the rainy season, the Blue Nile was a major source of the flooding of the Nile that contributed to the fertility of the Nile Valley and the consequent rise of Ancient Egypt and Egyptian mythology. With the completion in 1970 of the Aswan Dam in Egypt, the Blue Nile is vital to the livelihood of Egypt. The Blue Nile, the most significant tributary of the Nile, though shorter than the White Nile, 59% of the water that reaches Egypt originates from the Blue Nile branch of the great river. The river is also an important resource for Sudan, where the Roseires Dam and these dams also help irrigate the Gezira Scheme, which is most famous for its high quality cotton. The region also produces wheat and animal feed crops, in November 2012, Ethiopia began a six-year project for the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a 6000-megawatt hydroelectric dam on the river
28.
Gregory Rift
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The Gregory Rift is the eastern branch of the East African Rift fracture system. The rift is being caused by the separation of the Somali plate from the Nubian plate, ancient fossils of early hominins, the ancestors of humans, have been found in the southern part of the Gregory Rift. The Gregory Rift is named in honour of the British geologist John Walter Gregory who explored the geology of the rift in 1892-93 and 1919, the Gregory Rift lies within the Mozambique belt, often considered to be the remains of an orogenic system similar to the Himalayas. This belt runs from Ethiopia through Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique, the rift is widest at the northern end in the Afar region, narrowing to a few kilometers in northern Tanzania, then splaying out in the North Tanzania Divergence. The Gregory Rift has shoulders rising over 3,000 metres above sea level,1,000 metres above the part of the graben. The Tanzanian portion includes Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, and this portion also contains Ol Doinyo Lengai, the worlds only active carbonatite volcano. Lakes in the other than Lake Turkana are mostly small and shallow, some with fresh water. The thickness of sediments is mostly unknown. In Lake Turkana they seem to be at most 4 kilometres thick, in the Baringo - Bogoria half-graben from 500 metres to 1,000 metres thick and in the Afar depression up to 100 metres thick. The first geologist to explore the region was Joseph Thomson, a member of an expedition in 1879–1880 sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society of Britain, from his observations he deduced the existence of a great fault. Thomson returned in 1883, traveling through the valley in Kenya from Mount Longonot to Lake Baringo. John Walter Gregory visited central Kenya in 1893 and again in 1919 and his 1896 book The Great Rift Valley is considered a classic. Gregory was the first to use the term rift valley, which he defined as a valley with parallel and almost vertical sides. In 1913 the German geologist Hans Reck made the first study of the strata in the Olduvai Gorge to the west of the Crater Highlands and he brought a large collection of mammalian fossils back to Berlin. In 1928 Louis Leakey, the anthropologist, visited Berlin, where he saw some of Recks materials were artifacts. Leakey began exploring Olduvai in the 1930s and collecting material that has led to the site being recognized as an important center of early hominin occupation. Volcanism and rifting started in Kenya in the region of Turkana between 40 and 35 million years ago and then spread north and south. Volcanic activity started in the central Ethiopian plateau around 30 million years ago, the first period of activity deposited flood basalts and rhyolites from 500 metres to 2,000 metres thick
29.
Kenya
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Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country in Africa and a founding member of the East African Community. Its capital and largest city is Nairobi and it is bordered by Tanzania to the south and southwest, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya covers 581,309 km2, and had a population of approximately 48 million people in January 2017, Kenya has a warm and humid tropical climate on its Indian Ocean coastline. The climate is cooler in the grasslands around the capital city, Nairobi, and especially closer to Mount Kenya. Further inland are highlands in Central and Rift Valley regions where tea, in the West are Nyanza and Western regions, there is an equatorial, hot and dry climate which becomes humid around Lake Victoria, the largest tropical fresh-water lake in the world. This gives way to temperate and forested areas in the neighbouring western region. The north-eastern regions along the border with Somalia and Ethiopia are arid and semi-arid areas with near-desert landscapes, Kenya is known for its world class athletes in track and field and rugby. The African Great Lakes region, which Kenya is a part of, has been inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic period, by the first millennium AD, the Bantu expansion had reached the area from West-Central Africa. Bantu and Nilotic populations together constitute around 97% of the nations residents, European and Arab presence in coastal Mombasa dates to the Early Modern period, European exploration of the interior began in the 19th century. The British Empire established the East Africa Protectorate in 1895, which starting in 1920 gave way to the Kenya Colony, Kenya obtained independence in December 1963. Following a referendum in August 2010 and adoption of a new constitution, Kenya is now divided into 47 semi-autonomous counties, the capital, Nairobi, is a regional commercial hub. The economy of Kenya is the largest by GDP in East, agriculture is a major employer, the country traditionally exports tea and coffee and has more recently begun to export fresh flowers to Europe. The service industry is also an economic driver. Additionally, Kenya is a member of the East African Community trading bloc, the Republic of Kenya is named after Mount Kenya. The origin of the name Kenya is not clear, but perhaps linked to the Kikuyu, Embu and Kamba words Kirinyaga, Kirenyaa, if so, then the British may not so much have mispronounced it, as misspelled it. In the 19th century, the German explorer Johann Ludwig Krapf was staying with the Bantu Kamba people when he first spotted the mountain. On asking for the name of the mountain, he was told Kĩ-Nyaa or Kĩĩma- Kĩĩnyaa probably because the pattern of black rock, the Agikuyu, who inhabit the slopes of Mt. Kenya, call it Kĩrĩma Kĩrĩnyaga in Kikuyu, which is quite similar to the Kamba name. Ludwig Krapf recorded the name as both Kenia and Kegnia believed by most to be a corruption of the Kamba version, others say that this was—on the contrary—a very precise notation of a correct African pronunciation /ˈkɛnjə/
30.
Flamingo
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Flamingos or flamingoes /fləˈmɪŋɡoʊz/ are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, the only family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four species in the Americas and two species in the Old World. A similar etymology has the Latinate Greek term Phoenicopterus, literally blood red-feathered. ]Traditionally, the long-legged Ciconiiformes, probably a paraphyletic assemblage, have considered the flamingos closest relatives. Usually the ibises and spoonbills of the Threskiornithidae were considered their closest relatives within this order, earlier genetic studies, such as those of Charles Sibley and colleagues, also supported this relationship. Relationships to the waterfowl were considered as well, especially as flamingos are parasitized by feather lice of the genus Anaticola, the peculiar presbyornithids were used to argue for a close relationship between flamingos, waterfowl, and waders. Living flamingoes based on the work by John Boyd, six extant flamingo species are recognized by most sources, and were formerly placed in one genus, Phoenicopterus. As a result of a 2014 publication, the family was reclassified into three genera, prehistoric species of flamingo, Phoenicopterus floridanus Brodkorb 1953 Phoenicopterus stocki Phoenicopterus siamensis Cheneval et al. They hold at least eleven morphological traits in common, which are not found in other birds, many of these characteristics have been previously identified on flamingos, but not on grebes. The fossil palaelodids can be considered evolutionarily, and ecologically, intermediate between flamingos and grebes, for the grebe-flamingo clade, the taxon Mirandornithes has been proposed. Alternatively, they could be placed in one order, with Phoenocopteriformes taking priority, flamingos usually stand on one leg while the other is tucked beneath their body. The reason for this behaviour is not fully understood, recent research indicates that standing on one leg may allow the birds to conserve more body heat, given that they spend a significant amount of time wading in cold water. However, the behaviour also takes place in warm water, as well as standing in the water, flamingos may stamp their webbed feet in the mud to stir up food from the bottom. Young flamingos hatch with greyish reddish plumage, but adults range from pink to bright red due to aqueous bacteria. A well-fed, healthy flamingo is more vibrantly colored and thus a more desirable mate, captive flamingos are a notable exception, many turn a pale pink as they are not fed carotene at levels comparable to the wild. Flamingos filter-feed on brine shrimp and blue-green algae and their bills are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they eat, and are uniquely used upside-down. The filtering of food items is assisted by hairy structures called lamellae which line the mandibles, the pink or reddish color of flamingos comes from carotenoids in their diet of animal and plant plankton. These carotenoids are broken down into pigments by liver enzymes, the source of this varies by species, and affects the saturation of color. Flamingos whose sole diet is blue-green algae are darker in color compared to those who get it second hand, flamingos are very social birds, they live in colonies whose population can number in the thousands
31.
Crustacean
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Crustaceans form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill, woodlice and barnacles. In other words, some crustaceans are more related to insects. The 67,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at 0.1 mm, to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span of up to 3.8 m, like other arthropods, crustaceans have an exoskeleton, which they moult to grow. Most crustaceans are free-living aquatic animals, but some are terrestrial, some are parasitic, the group has an extensive fossil record, reaching back to the Cambrian, and includes living fossils such as Triops cancriformis, which has existed apparently unchanged since the Triassic period. More than 10 million tons of crustaceans are produced by fishery or farming for human consumption, krill and copepods are not as widely fished, but may be the animals with the greatest biomass on the planet, and form a vital part of the food chain. The scientific study of crustaceans is known as carcinology, and a scientist who works in carcinology is a carcinologist, the body of a crustacean is composed of segments, which are grouped into three regions, the cephalon or head, the thorax, and the pleon or abdomen. The head and thorax may be fused together to form a cephalothorax, the crustacean body is protected by the hard exoskeleton, which must be moulted for the animal to grow. The shell around each somite can be divided into a dorsal tergum, ventral sternum, various parts of the exoskeleton may be fused together. The abdomen bears pleopods, and ends in a telson, which bears the anus, the number and variety of appendages in different crustaceans may be partly responsible for the groups success. It is unclear whether the condition is a derived state which evolved in crustaceans. Trilobites, for instance, also possessed biramous appendages, the main body cavity is an open circulatory system, where blood is pumped into the haemocoel by a heart located near the dorsum. Malacostraca have haemocyanin as the pigment, while copepods, ostracods, barnacles. The alimentary canal consists of a tube that often has a gizzard-like gastric mill for grinding food and a pair of digestive glands that absorb food. Structures that function as kidneys are located near the antennae, a brain exists in the form of ganglia close to the antennae, and a collection of major ganglia is found below the gut. In many decapods, the first pair of pleopods are specialised in the male for sperm transfer, many terrestrial crustaceans mate seasonally and return to the sea to release the eggs. Others, such as woodlice, lay their eggs on land, in most decapods, the females retain the eggs until they hatch into free-swimming larvae. Marine crustaceans are as ubiquitous in the oceans as insects are on land, some branchiurans are able to withstand rapid changes of salinity and will also switch hosts from marine to non-marine species. Krill are the layer and the most important part of the food chain in Antarctic animal communities
32.
Lake Baringo
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Lake Baringo is, after Lake Turkana, the most northern of the Kenyan Rift Valley lakes, with a surface area of about 130 square kilometres and an elevation of about 970 metres. The lake is fed by rivers, Molo, Perkerra and Ol Arabel, and has no obvious outlet. It is one of the two lakes in the Rift Valley in Kenya, the other being Lake Naivasha. It lies off the track in a hot and dusty setting and over 470 species of birds have been recorded there. A Goliath heronry is located on an islet in the lake known as Gibraltar. The lake is part of the East African Rift system, the Tugen Hills, an uplifted fault block of volcanic and metamorphic rocks, lies west of the lake. The Laikipia Escarpment lies to the east, water flows into the lake from the Mau Hills and Tugen Hills. It is a habitat and refuge for more than 500 species of birds and fauna. The lake also provides a habitat for seven fresh water fish species. One, Oreochromis niloticus baringoensis, is endemic to the lake, Lake fishing is important to local social and economic development. Additionally the area is a habitat for species of animals including the hippopotamus, Nile crocodile and many other mammals, amphibians, reptiles. Water levels have been reduced by droughts and over-irrigation, the lake is commonly turbid with sediment, partly due to intense soil erosion in the catchment, especially on the Loboi Plain south of the lake. The lake has several islands, the largest being Ol Kokwe Island. Ol Kokwe, an extinct volcanic centre related to Korosi volcano north of the lake, has hot springs and fumaroles. A group of hot springs discharge along the shoreline at Soro near the corner of the island. The main town near the lake is Marigat, while smaller settlements include Kampi ya Samaki, accommodation as well as boating services are available at and near Kampi-Ya-Samaki on the western shore, as well as on several of the islands in the lake. The journey to Lake Baringo was famously noted to be, a genuine pain in the ass by Jimmy Stewart in a poem read on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Rift Valley lakes Korosi, a volcano at the end of Lake Nakuru Media related to Lake Baringo at Wikimedia Commons Chisholm, Hugh
33.
Lake Bogoria
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Lake Bogoria is a saline, alkaline lake that lies in a volcanic region in a half-graben basin south of Lake Baringo, Kenya, a little south of the equator. The lake is a Ramsar site and Lake Bogoria National Reserve has been a protected National Reserve since November 29,1973, Lake Bogoria is shallow, and is about 34 km long by 3.5 km wide, with a drainage basin of. Local features include the Kesubo Swamp to the north and the Siracho Escarpment to the east, the lake is also famous for geysers and hot springs along the bank of the lake and in the lake. In four locations around the lake can be observed at least 10 geysers, geyser activity is affected by the fluctuations of lake level, which may inundate or expose some geysers. The lake waters contain large concentrations of Na+, HCO3− and CO32− ions and they originate from inflow from the Sandai and Emsos rivers, and from about 200 alkaline hot springs that are present at three onshore sites, Loburu, Chemurkeu, and a southern group. Other springs discharge directly from the lake floor, Lake Bogoria also contains the highest concentration of true geysers in Africa. The lake waters are alkaline and saline, the lake has no surface outlet so the water becomes saline mainly through evaporation, which is high in this semi-arid region. The lake itself is meromictic with less dense surface waters lying on a more saline bottom waters. Although hypersaline, the lake is highly productive with abundant cyanobacteria that feed the flamingoes, austria is found in high densities. The lake has not always been saline, at times it might have overflowed northward towards Lake Baringo. At times, during the late Pleistocene it might have united with a larger precursor of modern Lake Baringo. Hotel accommodation is available near Loboi village at the end of the lake. Camping is permitted at the end of the lake. Rift Valley Lakes East African Rift Rivers of Kenya Tiercelin, J. J. and Vincens, le demi–graben de Baringo–Bogoria, Rift Gregory, Kenya,30,000 ans d’histoire hydrologique et sédimentaire. Bulletin des Centres de Recherches Exploration-Production Elf-Aquitaine, v.11, Lake Bogoria, Kenya, soda, hot springs and about a million flamingoes. Geology Today, v.9, p. 56-61, Lake Bogoria, Kenya Rift Valley, a sedimentological overview. In, Sedimentology and Geochemistry of Modern and Ancient Saline Lakes, SEPM Special Publication, v.50, p. 101–123. A Guide to Lake Baringo and Lake Bogoria, boar, R. R. Hickley, P. Mills, S. C
34.
Lake Elmenteita
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Lake Elmenteita, also spelled Elementaita, is a soda lake, in the Great Rift Valley, about 120 km northwest of Nairobi, Kenya. Elmenteita is derived from the Masaai word muteita, meaning dust place, the town of Gilgil is near the lake. In the south-to-north sequence of Rift Valley lakes, Elmenteita is between Lake Naivasha and Lake Nakuru, at the southern end of the lake are the Kekopey hot springs, in which the Tilapia grahami breed. Very popular for bathing, the local Maasai claim that it can cure AIDS, the reed beds nearby are fishing grounds for night herons and pelicans. The Lake Elmenteita area saw its first white settlement when Lord Delamere established Soysambu, Soysambu ranch is still occupied by Lord Delameres descendants, including the controversial Thomas P. G. Cholmondeley who has been instrumental in setting up the Soysambu conservancy. The conservancy covers 2/3 of the shoreline and is home to over 12000 wild animals, Lake Elmenteita has been a Ramsar site since 2005. Over 400 bird species have recorded in the Lake Nakuru/Lake Elmenteita basin. Elmenteita attracts visiting flamingoes, both the Greater and Lesser varieties, which feed on the crustacean and insect larvae and on its suspended blue-green algae. Tilapia were introduced to the lake from Lake Magadi in 1962, the tilapia attract many fish-eating birds that also feed upon the flamingo eggs and chicks. Over a million birds that formerly bred at Elmenteita are now said to have sought refuge at Lake Natron in Tanzania, the lakes shores are grazed by zebra, gazelle, eland and families of warthog. The lake is very shallow and bordered by trona-encrusted mudflats during the dry seasons. During the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, Lake Elmenteita was at times united with an expanded Lake Nakuru, remnants of the former joined lake are preserved as sediments at various locations around the lake basins, including former shorelines. Recently the lake level and number of flamingoes has receded as increased human activity has dried up catchment areas, nearby is the Kariandusi Museum, at an important prehistoric site where stone handaxes and cleavers were discovered in 1929 by Louis Leakey. Elmenteita Badlands is a flow to the south of the lake, covered in bush
35.
Suguta
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The Suguta Valley, also known as the Suguta Mud Flats, is an arid part of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, directly south of Lake Turkana. The Suguta valley today is one of the driest parts of Kenya, Lake Logipi seasonally fills a small part of the northern end of the valley. The valley has a flat floor about 300 metres above sea level. It is bordered by land to the east and west rising to 1,000 metres, the Barrier Volcano, a broad volcanic complex, separates the valley from Lake Turkana. Mount Ngiro rises to the east of the Suguta valley, the Losiolo Escarpment, rising 2,000 metres above the valley floor on the east side near Maralal provides one of the most dramatic views of the Kenyan rift valley. Namarunu, an active in historic times, extends into the valley from the western wall. The Suguta Valley lies along the axis of the Gregory Rift, the belt lies between the Ngiro basement uplift to the east and the Loriu Plateau to the west, and is thicker in the eastern part. In the early Pliocene the least horizontal stress direction - the direction of rift expansion - was NW-SE, Lake Suguta once filled the valley, at times overflowing into Lake Turkana. The lake level rose and fell several times in the last 18,000 years due to changes of rainfall during the African Humid Period that lasted from 14,800 to 5,500 years ago. The lake level began to drop about 8,000 years ago, in the dry season saline hot springs help maintain water levels in Lake Logipi, which is about 3 metres to 5 metres at its greatest depth, about 6 kilometres wide and 3 kilometres wide. The saline waters provide food for cyano-bacteria and other plankton, which in turn are food for flamingoes, due to the inaccessibility and harsh climate, with temperatures reaching 60 °C, only the most determined tourists visit the site. The valley is used as a hide-out by Pokot and Turkana cattle rustlers and it is considered a no go region by the police due to the extremely harsh environment and familiarity of the rustlers with the terrain. In November 2012 over 40 Kenya Police officers and reservists were killed in the Suguta Valley near Baragoi while on a mission to recover stolen cattle
36.
Lake Magadi
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Lake Magadi is the southernmost lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, lying in a catchment of faulted volcanic rocks, north of Tanzanias Lake Natron. During the dry season, it is 80% covered by soda and is known for its wading birds. Lake Magadi is a saline, alkaline lake, approximately 100 square kilometers in size, the lake is an example of a saline pan. The lake water, which is a sodium carbonate brine. In places, the salt is up to 40 m thick, the lake is recharged mainly by saline hot springs that discharge into alkaline lagoons around the lake margins, there being little surface runoff in this arid region. Most hot springs lie along the northwestern and southern shorelines of the lake, during the rainy season, a thin layer of brine covers much of the saline pan, but this evaporates rapidly leaving a vast expanse of white salt that cracks to produce large polygons. Lake Magadi was not always so saline, evidence also exists for several older Pleistocene precursor lakes that were much larger than present Lake Magadi. At times, Lake Magadi and Lake Natron were united as a larger lake. Lake Magadi is also known for its extensive deposits of siliceous chert. There are many varieties including bedded cherts that formed in the lake, most famous is Magadi-type chert, which formed from a sodium silicate mineral precursor magadiite that was discovered at Lake Magadi during the 2016s. Magadi township lies on the lakes east shore, and is home to the Magadi Soda factory and this factory produces soda ash, which has a range of industrial uses. A causeway that crosses the lake access to the area west of the lake. Recently accommodation for tourists is provided in air conditioned canvas tents, ngorongoro Conservation Area also has a Lake Magadi. Report of the Geological Survey of Kenya,42,81 pp. Behr, magadiite and Magadi chert, a critical analysis of the silica sediments in the Lake Magadi Basin, Kenya. SEPM Special Publication 73, p. 257-273, chemistry and origin of the brines from Lake Magadi, Kenya. Mineralogical Society of America Special Paper, No, Lake Magadi, Kenya, and its Pleistocene precursors. In Nissenbaum, A. Hypersaline brines and evaporitic environments, jones, B. F. Eugster, H. P. and Rettig, S. L. Hydrochemistry of the Lake Magadi basin, Kenya, geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v.41, p. 53-72
37.
Lake Naivasha
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Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, outside the town of Naivasha in Nakuru County, which lies north west of Nairobi. It is part of the Great Rift Valley, the name derives from the local Maasai name Naiposha, meaning rough water because of the sudden storms which can arise. Lake Naivasha is at the highest elevation of the Kenyan Rift valley at 1,884 metres in a complex combination of volcanic rocks. Apart from transient streams, the lake is fed by the perennial Malewa, there is no visible outlet, but since the lake water is relatively fresh it is assumed to have an underground outflow. The lake has an area of 139 km², and is surrounded by a swamp which covers an area of 64 square km. It is situated at an altitude of 1,884 metres, the lake has an average depth of 6 m, with the deepest area being at Crescent Island, at a maximum depth of 30 m. Njorowa Gorge used to form the lakes outlet, but it is now high above the lake, the town of Naivasha lies on the north-east edge of the lake. The lake is home to a variety of types of wildlife including over 400 different species of bird, the fish community in the lake has been highly variable over time, influenced by changes in climate, fishing effort and the introduction of invasive species. The most recent shift in the population followed the accidental introduction of common carp in 2001. Nine years later, in 2010, common carp accounted for over 90% of the mass of fish caught in the lake, there are two smaller lakes in the vicinity of Lake Naivasaha, Lake Oloiden and Lake Sonachi. The Crater Lake Game Sanctuary lies nearby, while the shore is known for its population of European immigrants. Between 1937 and 1950, the lake was used as a place for flying boats on the Imperial Airways passenger. Joy Adamson, the author of Born Free, lived on the shores of the lake in the mid-1960s, on the shores of the lake is Oserian, which gained notoriety in the Happy Valley days between the two world wars. It now forms part of the Oserian flower farm, in 1999, the Lake Naivasha Riparian Association received the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award for its conservation efforts regarding the Lake Naivasha Ramsar site. Floriculture forms the main industry around the lake, however, the largely unregulated use of lake water for irrigation is reducing the level of the lake and is the subject of concern in Kenya. Fishing in the lake is another source of employment and income for the local population. The lake varies in level greatly and almost dried up entirely in the 1890s, Lake levels in general follow the rainfall pattern in the catchment area. In 1981, the first geothermal plant for Lake Naivasha was commissioned and by 1985, a total of 45 MW of electricity was being generated in the area
38.
Lake Nakuru
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Lake Nakuru is one of the Rift Valley soda lakes at an elevation of 1754 m above sea level. It lies to the south of Nakuru, in the valley of Kenya and is protected by Lake Nakuru National Park. The lakes abundance of algae used to attract a vast quantity of flamingos that famously lined the shore, other birds also flourish in the area, as do warthogs, baboons and other large mammals. Eastern black rhinos and southern white rhinos have also been introduced, the lakes level dropped dramatically in the early 1990s but has since largely recovered. In 2013, the received an alarming increase in the water levels that led to the migration of flamingos to Lake Bogoria in search for food supply. Nakuru means Dust or Dusty Place in the Maasai language, Lake Nakuru National Park, close to Nakuru town, was established in 1961. It started off small, only encompassing the lake and the surrounding mountainous vicinity. Lake Nakuru is protected under the Ramsar Convention on wetlands, Lake Nakuru National Park, was created in 1961 around Lake Nakuru, near Nakuru Town. It is best known for its thousands, sometimes millions of flamingos nesting along the shores, the surface of the shallow lake is often hardly recognizable due to the continually shifting mass of pink. The number of flamingos on the lake varies with water and food conditions, also of interest is an area of 188 km around the lake fenced off as a sanctuary to protect giraffes as well as both black and white rhinos. The park has recently been enlarged partly to provide the sanctuary for the black rhinos and this undertaking has necessitated a fence - to keep out poachers rather than to restrict the movement of wildlife. The park now has more than 25 eastern black rhinoceros, one of the largest concentrations in the country, there are also a number of Rothschilds giraffe, again relocated for safety from western Kenya beginning in 1977. Waterbuck are very common and both the Kenyan species are found here, among the predators are Masai lions, cheetahs and leopards, the latter being seen much more frequently in recent times. The park also has large sized pythons that inhabit the dense woodlands, Lake Nakuru, a small shallow alkaline lake on the southern edge of the town of Nakuru lies about 164 kilometers north of Nairobi. It can therefore be visited in a day tour from the capital or more likely as part of a circuit taking in the Masai Mara or Lake Baringo and east to Samburu. The lake is world-famous as the location of the greatest bird spectacle on earth - myriads of fuchsia pink flamingos whose numbers are legion and they feed on the abundant algae, which thrives in the warm waters. Scientists reckon that the population at Nakuru consumes about 250,000 kg of algae per hectare of surface area per year. There are two types of species, the lesser flamingo can be distinguished by its deep red carmine bill and pink plumage unlike the greater
39.
Lake Turkana
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Lake Turkana, formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northy end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the worlds largest permanent desert lake and the worlds largest alkaline lake, by volume it is the worlds fourth-largest salt lake after the Caspian Sea, Issyk-Kul, and Lake Van, and among all lakes it ranks 24th. The water is potable, but not palatable and it supports a rich lacustrine wildlife. The climate is hot and very dry, the rocks of the surrounding area are predominantly volcanic. Central Island is a volcano, emitting vapour. Outcrops and rocky shores are found on the east and south shores of the lake, while dunes, spits and flats are on the west and north, on-shore and off-shore winds can be extremely strong, as the lake warms and cools more slowly than the land. Three rivers flow into the lake, but lacking outflow, its water loss is by evaporation. Lake volume and dimensions are variable, for example, its level fell by 10 metres between 1975 and 1993. Due to temperature, aridity and geographic inaccessibility, the lake retains its wild character, Nile crocodiles are found in great abundance on the flats. The rocky shores are home to scorpions and carpet vipers, Lake Turkana National Parks are now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sibiloi National Park lies on the eastern shore, while Central Island National Park. Both are known for their Nile crocodiles, an abundance of hominid fossils have been discovered in the area surrounding Lake Turkana. The lake was named Lake Rudolf by Count Sámuel Teleki de Szék and his second-in-command Lieutenant Ludwig Ritter Von Höhnel, a Hungarian and they were the first Europeans to have recorded visiting the lake after a long safari across East Africa. Natives who live around Lake Turkana include the Turkana, Rendille, Gabbra, Daasanach, Hamar Koke, Karo, Nyagatom, Mursi, Surma, for the location of many of these peoples, refer to the dialect map in the article. J. W. Gregory reported in The Geographical Journal of 1894 that it was called Basso Narok, likewise, nearby Lake Chew Bahir is Basso Naibor in Samburu, meaning White Lake. The Samburu are among the dominant tribes in the lake Turkana region when the explorers came, what the native form of this phrase was, what it might mean, and in which language is not clear. The lake kept its European name during the period of British East Africa. After the independence of Kenya, the president, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, renamed it in 1975 after the Turkana, at some unknown time, the lake acquired an alternate name as the Jade Sea from its turquoise colour seen approaching from a distance
40.
Lake Eyasi
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The lake is elongated, orientated southwest to northeast, and lies in the Eyasi-Wembere branch of the Great Rift Valley. The principal inflow is the Sibiti River, which enters the southwestern end, the river may continue to flow somewhat year round, at least in wetter years, the other inflows are all seasonal. The second largest inflow is the Baray, at the northeast, the water carried by the Baray has increased in recent years due to deforestation of the Crater Highlands. The southwest flank of Mount Oldeani, one of the Ngorongoro volcanos, flow from the Budahaya / Udahaya River, which drains into the Yaeda Swamp to the southeast of the lake, was once second, but has decreased due to water diversion in the Mbulu Highlands. Water flow from the Serengeti is minor, the largest stream is the Sayu, seasonal water level fluctuations in the lake are dramatic, though the northwestern shore is constrained by the cliffs of the Serengeti Plateau. It is a stop for migrating flamingos. The lake supports minor local fishing in wet years, but more often catfish and lungfish are taken from the streams, even during wet periods, lake depths typically remain less than one metre. The Hadza are the inhabitants of the lake. They are found along most of the perimeter, though camps are few along most of the Serengeti, the Datooga inhabit the Yaeda Valley to the southeast, the Isanzu the south, and the Sukuma across the Sibiti River in the southwest. The Iraqw traditionally lived on the side of Yaeda, but have come in increasing numbers to the Baray. Mumba Cave is a site that is located by the shores of Lake Eyasi. The site has yielded a number of Middle Stone Age and Late Stone Age artifacts
41.
Lake Manyara
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Lake Manyara is a shallow lake in the Natron-Manyara-Balangida branch of the East African Rift in Manyara Region in Tanzania. Said by Ernest Hemingway to be the loveliest, in Africa, it is also the home of a diverse set of landscapes and wildlife. The name Manyara comes from the Maasai word emanyara, which is a species of plant that is grown into a hedge around a family homestead. The name is a Masai description not for the lake, while most known for baboons, the lake and its environs is also home to herbivores such as hippos, impalas, elephants, wildebeests, buffalo, warthogs and giraffes. Leading away from the forest to the fringes of Lake Manyara are the flood plains, to the south are visible the acacia woodlands. Leopards, although in abundance, are hard to get a glimpse of, Lake Manyara provides opportunities for ornithologists keen on viewing and observing over 300 migratory birds, including flamingo, long-crested eagle and grey-headed kingfisher. The Rift Valley escarpment forms a landmark and provides a spectacular backdrop to Lake Manyara. To the east of Lake Manyara lies the Kwakuchinja wildlife corridor, the corridor allows wildlife to migrate between dispersal areas and parks that include Tarangire National Park to the southeast, Lake Manyara to the west and the Engaruka Basin to the north. Within the Kwakuchinja corridor are several villages that include Ol Tukai Village, further from the lake and outside of village lands, lies the 44000 acre Manyara Ranch, of which 35000 acres comprise the Manyara Ranch Conservancy. This is a conservation and tourism project supported by the African Wildlife Foundation, the Tanzania Land Conservation Trust. While not a park, the conservancy is frequented by resident and migrating wildlife including elephant, lion, buffalo, leopard, rarely seen in the parks but a common resident on the conservancy is the lesser kudu. Lake Manyara is part of the Lake Manyara Biosphere Reserve, established in 1981 by UNESCO as part of its Man, Lake Manyara at Tanzania Tourist Board
42.
Lake Natron
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Lake Natron is a salt and soda lake in the Arusha Region of northern Tanzania. The lake is close to the Kenyan border and is in the Gregory Rift, the lake is within the Lake Natron Basin, a Ramsar Site wetland of international significance. The lake is fed principally by the Southern Ewaso Ngiro River, which rises in central Kenya and it is quite shallow, less than three metres deep, and varies in width depending on its water level. The lake is a maximum of 57 kilometres long and 22 kilometres wide, the surrounding area receives irregular seasonal rainfall, mainly between December and May totalling 800 millimetres per year. Temperatures at the lake are frequently above 40 °C, high levels of evaporation have left behind natron and trona. The alkalinity of the lake can reach a pH of greater than 12, the surrounding bedrock is composed of alkaline, sodium-dominated trachyte lavas that were laid down during the Pleistocene period. The lavas have significant amounts of carbonate but very low calcium and magnesium levels and this has allowed the lake to concentrate into a caustic alkaline brine. The color of the lake is characteristic of those where very high evaporation rates occur, as water evaporates during the dry season, salinity levels increase to the point that salt-loving microorganisms begin to thrive. Such halophile organisms include some cyanobacteria that make their own food with photosynthesis as plants do, the red accessory photosynthesizing pigment in the cyanobacteria produces the deep reds of the open water of the lake and the orange colors of the shallow parts of the lake. The alkali salt crust on the surface of the lake is often colored red or pink by the salt-loving microorganisms that live there. Salt marshes and freshwater wetlands around the edges of the lake do support a variety of plants, most animals find the lakes high temperature and its high and variable salt content inhospitable. Nonetheless, Lake Natron is home to some endemic algae, invertebrates, in the slightly less salty water around its margins, some fish can also survive. The lake is the only breeding area in East Africa for the 2.5 million lesser flamingoes. When salinity increases, so do cyanobacteria, and the lake can support more nests. These flamingoes, the single large flock in East Africa, gather along nearby saline lakes to feed on Spirulina, Lake Natron is a safe breeding location because its caustic environment is a barrier against predators trying to reach their nests on seasonally forming evaporite islands. Greater flamingoes also breed on the mud flats, two endemic fish species, the alkaline tilapias Alcolapia latilabris and A. ndalalani, also thrive in the waters at the edges of the hot spring inlets. A. alcalica is also present in the lake, but is not endemic, the area around the salt lake is not inhabited but there is some herding and some seasonal cultivation. Although development plans include construction of a dike at the end of the lake to contain the freshwater
43.
East African halophytics
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Lake Natron is a salt and soda lake in the Arusha Region of northern Tanzania. The lake is close to the Kenyan border and is in the Gregory Rift, the lake is within the Lake Natron Basin, a Ramsar Site wetland of international significance. The lake is fed principally by the Southern Ewaso Ngiro River, which rises in central Kenya and it is quite shallow, less than three metres deep, and varies in width depending on its water level. The lake is a maximum of 57 kilometres long and 22 kilometres wide, the surrounding area receives irregular seasonal rainfall, mainly between December and May totalling 800 millimetres per year. Temperatures at the lake are frequently above 40 °C, high levels of evaporation have left behind natron and trona. The alkalinity of the lake can reach a pH of greater than 12, the surrounding bedrock is composed of alkaline, sodium-dominated trachyte lavas that were laid down during the Pleistocene period. The lavas have significant amounts of carbonate but very low calcium and magnesium levels and this has allowed the lake to concentrate into a caustic alkaline brine. The color of the lake is characteristic of those where very high evaporation rates occur, as water evaporates during the dry season, salinity levels increase to the point that salt-loving microorganisms begin to thrive. Such halophile organisms include some cyanobacteria that make their own food with photosynthesis as plants do, the red accessory photosynthesizing pigment in the cyanobacteria produces the deep reds of the open water of the lake and the orange colors of the shallow parts of the lake. The alkali salt crust on the surface of the lake is often colored red or pink by the salt-loving microorganisms that live there. Salt marshes and freshwater wetlands around the edges of the lake do support a variety of plants, most animals find the lakes high temperature and its high and variable salt content inhospitable. Nonetheless, Lake Natron is home to some endemic algae, invertebrates, in the slightly less salty water around its margins, some fish can also survive. The lake is the only breeding area in East Africa for the 2.5 million lesser flamingoes. When salinity increases, so do cyanobacteria, and the lake can support more nests. These flamingoes, the single large flock in East Africa, gather along nearby saline lakes to feed on Spirulina, Lake Natron is a safe breeding location because its caustic environment is a barrier against predators trying to reach their nests on seasonally forming evaporite islands. Greater flamingoes also breed on the mud flats, two endemic fish species, the alkaline tilapias Alcolapia latilabris and A. ndalalani, also thrive in the waters at the edges of the hot spring inlets. A. alcalica is also present in the lake, but is not endemic, the area around the salt lake is not inhabited but there is some herding and some seasonal cultivation. Although development plans include construction of a dike at the end of the lake to contain the freshwater
44.
Albertine Rift
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The Albertine Rift is the western branch of the East African Rift, covering parts of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. It extends from the end of Lake Albert to the southern end of Lake Tanganyika. The geographical term includes the valley and the surrounding mountains, the Albertine Rift and the mountains are the result of tectonic movements that are gradually splitting the Somali Plate away from the rest of the African continent. The mountains surrounding the rift are composed of uplifted Pre-Cambrian basement rocks, the northern part of the rift is crossed by two large mountain ranges, the Rwenzori Mountains between Lake Albert and Lake Rutanzige and the Virunga Mountains between Lake Rutanziga and Lake Kivu. The Virungas form a barrier between the Nile Basin to the north and east and the Congo Basin to the west, Lake Rutenzige is fed by several large rivers, the Rutshuru River being one, and drains to the north through the Semliki River into Lake Albert. The Victoria Nile flows from Lake Victoria into the end of Lake Albert and exits as the White Nile from a point slightly to the west. South of the Virungu, Lake Kivu drains to the south into Lake Tanganyika through the Ruzizi River, Lake Tanganyika then drains into the Congo River via the Lukuga River. Before that Lake Tanganyika, or separate sub-basins in what is now the lake, the Lukuga has formed relatively recently, providing a route through which aquatic species of the Congo Basin could colonize Lake Tanganyika, which formerly had distinct fauna. From north to south the mountains include the Lendu Plateau, Rwenzori Mountains, Virunga Mountains, the Ruwenzori mountains have been identified with Ptolemys Mountains of the Moon. The range covers an area 120 kilometres long and 65 kilometres wide and this range includes Mount Stanley at 5,119 metres, Mount Speke at 4,890 metres and Mount Baker at 4,843 metres. The Virunga Massif along the border between Rwanda and the DRC consists of eight volcanoes, two of these, Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo, are still highly active. Most of the rise to between 2,000 metres and 3,500 metres. The Albertine Rift montane forests are important eco-regions, transitional forests, intermediate between lowland and montane forest, are found at elevations from around 1,000 metres to 1,750 metres. Montane forest covers the slopes from around 1,600 metres to 3,500 metres, above 2,400 metres there are areas of bamboo and elfin forest. Heather and grasses predominate above 3,500 metres, the ecology is threatened by deforestation as a growing population seeks new farmland. Illegal timber extraction is another problem, and artisanal gold mining causes some local damage
45.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
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The Democratic Republic of the Congo, also known as DR Congo, DRC, DROC, East Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo is a country located in Central Africa. From 1971 to 1997 it was named, and is still called, Zaire. It is the second-largest country in Africa by area and eleventh largest in the world, the Congolese Civil Wars, which began in 1996, brought about the end of Mobutu Sese Sekos 32-year reign and devastated the country. These wars ultimately involved nine African nations, multiple groups of UN peacekeepers and twenty armed groups, besides the capital, Kinshasa, the other major cities, Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi, are both mining communities. DR Congos largest export is raw minerals, with China accepting over 50% of DRCs exports in 2012, as of 2015, according to the Human Development Index, DR Congo has a low level of human development, ranking 176 out of 187 countries. The country was known officially as the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 27 October 1971, in 1992, the Sovereign National Conference voted to change the name of the country to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but the change was not put into practice. The countrys name was restored by former president Laurent-Désiré Kabila following the fall of longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997, some historians think that Bantu peoples began settling in the extreme northwest of Central Africa at the beginning of the 5th century and then gradually started to expand southward. Their propagation was accelerated by the transition from Stone Age to Iron Age techniques, the people living in the south and southwest were mostly San Bushmen and hunter-gatherer groups, whose technology involved only minimal use of metal technologies. The development of tools during this time period revolutionized agriculture. This led to the displacement of the groups in the east and southeast. The 10th century marked the expansion of the Bantu in West-Central Africa. Rising populations soon made intricate local, regional and foreign commercial networks that traded mostly in salt, iron. Belgian exploration and administration took place from the 1870s until the 1920s and it was first led by Sir Henry Morton Stanley, who undertook his explorations under the sponsorship of King Leopold II of Belgium. The eastern regions of the precolonial Congo were heavily disrupted by constant slave raiding, mainly from Arab–Swahili slave traders such as the infamous Tippu Tip, Leopold had designs on what was to become the Congo as a colony. Leopold formally acquired rights to the Congo territory at the Conference of Berlin in 1885 and he named it the Congo Free State. Leopolds rėgime began various infrastructure projects, such as construction of the railway ran from the coast to the capital of Leopoldville. Nearly all such projects were aimed at making it easier to increase the assets which Leopold. In the Free State, colonists brutalized the local population into producing rubber, for which the spread of automobiles, rubber sales made a fortune for Leopold, who built several buildings in Brussels and Ostend to honor himself and his country
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Zambia
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The capital city is Lusaka, in the south-central part of Zambia. The population is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the northwest, originally inhabited by Khoisan peoples, the region was affected by the Bantu expansion of the thirteenth century. After visits by European explorers in the century, Zambia became the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia towards the end of the nineteenth century. For most of the period, Zambia was governed by an administration appointed from London with the advice of the British South Africa Company. On 24 October 1964, Zambia became independent of the United Kingdom, Kaundas socialist United National Independence Party maintained power from 1964 until 1991. Kaunda played a key role in diplomacy, cooperating closely with the United States in search of solutions to conflicts in Rhodesia, Angola. From 1972 to 1991 Zambia was a one-party state with the UNIP as the legal political party under the motto One Zambia. Kaunda was succeeded by Frederick Chiluba of the social-democratic Movement for Multi-Party Democracy in 1991, beginning a period of social-economic growth, after Mwanawasas death, Rupiah Banda presided as Acting President before being elected President in 2008. Holding office for three years, Banda stepped down after his defeat in the 2011 elections by Patriotic Front party leader Michael Sata. Sata died on 28 October 2014, the second Zambian president to die in office, Guy Scott served briefly as interim president until new elections were held on 20 January 2015, in which Edgar Lungu was elected as the sixth President. In 2010, the World Bank named Zambia one of the worlds fastest economically reformed countries, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa is headquartered in Lusaka. The territory of what is now Zambia was known as Northern Rhodesia from 1911 and it was renamed Zambia at independence in 1964. The new name of Zambia was derived from the Zambezi river, the area of modern Zambia is known to have been inhabited by the Khoisan until around AD300, when migrating Bantu began to settle around these areas. These early hunter-gatherer groups were either annihilated or absorbed by subsequent more organised Bantu groups. Archaeological excavation work on the Zambezi Valley and Kalambo Falls show a succession of human cultures, in particular, ancient camping site tools near the Kalambo Falls have been radiocarbon dated to more than 36,000 year ago. The fossil skull remains of Broken Hill Man, dated between 300,000 and 125,000 years BC, further shows that the area was inhabited by pre-historic man. The early history of tribes of modern-day Zambia can only be gleaned from knowledge passed down by successive generations through word of mouth, in the 12th century, major waves of Bantu-speaking immigrants arrived during the Bantu expansion. Among them, the Tonga people were the first to settle in Zambia and are believed to have come from the east near the big sea, by the late 12th century, more advanced kingdoms and empires had been established in most regions of modern-day Zambia
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Tanzania
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Tanzania /ˌtænzəˈniːə/, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in Eastern Africa within the African Great Lakes region. Parts of the country are in Southern Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, Africas highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania. Tanzanias population of 51.82 million is diverse, composed of ethnic, linguistic. Dar es Salaam, the capital, retains most government offices and is the countrys largest city, principal port. Tanzania is a one party dominant state with the Chama Cha Mapinduzi party in power, from its formation until 1992, it was the only legally permitted party in the country. Elections for president and all National Assembly seats were last held in October 2015, the CCM holds approximately 75% of the seats in the assembly. Prehistoric population migrations include Southern Cushitic speakers, who are ancestral to the Iraqw, Gorowa, and Burunge and who moved south from Ethiopia into Tanzania. Based on linguistic evidence, there may also have two movements into Tanzania of Eastern Cushitic people at about 4,000 and 2,000 years ago. These movements took place at about the time as the settlement of the iron-making Mashariki Bantu from West Africa in the Lake Victoria. They brought with them the west African planting tradition and the staple of yams. They subsequently migrated out of these regions across the rest of Tanzania, European colonialism began in mainland Tanzania during the late 19th century when Germany formed German East Africa, which gave way to British rule following World War I. The mainland was governed as Tanganyika, with the Zanzibar Archipelago remaining a separate colonial jurisdiction, following their respective independence in 1961 and 1963, the two entities merged in April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. Tanzania is mountainous and densely forested in the northeast, where Mount Kilimanjaro is located, three of Africas Great Lakes are partly within Tanzania. To the north and west lie Lake Victoria, Africas largest lake, and Lake Tanganyika, the eastern shore is hot and humid, with the Zanzibar Archipelago just offshore. The Menai Bay Conservation Area is Zanzibars largest marine protected area, over 100 different languages are spoken in Tanzania, making it the most linguistically diverse country in East Africa. Among the languages spoken in Tanzania are all four of Africas language families, Bantu, Cushitic, Nilotic, Swahili and English are Tanzanias official languages. In connection with his Ujamaa social policies, President Nyerere encouraged the use of Swahili, approximately 10% of Tanzanians speak Swahili as a first language, and up to 90% speak it as a second language. Most Tanzanians thus speak both Swahili and a language, many educated Tanzanians are trilingual, also speaking English
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Nile River
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The Nile is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It is generally regarded as the longest river in the world, in particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt and Sudan. The Nile has two tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile. The White Nile is considered to be the headwaters and primary stream of the Nile itself, the Blue Nile, however, is the source of most of the water and silt. The White Nile is longer and rises in the Great Lakes region of central Africa and it flows north through Tanzania, Lake Victoria, Uganda and South Sudan. The Blue Nile begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and flows into Sudan from the southeast, the two rivers meet just north of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. The northern section of the river flows north almost entirely through the Sudanese desert to Egypt, then ends in a large delta, Egyptian civilization and Sudanese kingdoms have depended on the river since ancient times. Most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of the Nile valley north of Aswan, in the ancient Egyptian language, the Nile is called Ḥpī or Iteru, meaning river. In Coptic, the words piaro or phiaro meaning the river come from the ancient name. The English name Nile and the Arabic names en-Nîl and an-Nîl both derive from the Latin Nilus and the Ancient Greek Νεῖλος, beyond that, however, the etymology is disputed. One possible etymology derives it from a Semitic Nahal, meaning river, the standard English names White Nile and Blue Nile, to refer to the rivers source, derive from Arabic names formerly applied only to the Sudanese stretches which meet at Khartoum. Above Khartoum, the Nile is also known as the White Nile, at Khartoum the river is joined by the Blue Nile. The White Nile starts in equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile begins in Ethiopia, both branches are on the western flanks of the East African Rift. The drainage basin of the Nile covers 3,254,555 square kilometers, the source of the Nile is sometimes considered to be Lake Victoria, but the lake has feeder rivers of considerable size. It is either the Ruvyironza, which emerges in Bururi Province, Burundi, or the Nyabarongo, the two feeder rivers meet near Rusumo Falls on the Rwanda-Tanzania border. Gish Abay is reportedly the place where the water of the first drops of the Blue Nile develop. The Nile leaves Lake Nyanza at Ripon Falls near Jinja, Uganda and it flows north for some 130 kilometers, to Lake Kyoga. For the remaining part it flows westerly through the Murchison Falls until it reaches the very northern shores of Lake Albert where it forms a significant river delta
