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Country: | Kenya | |
| Subregion Name: | Eastern Africa | ||
| Volcano Number: | 0202-052 | ||
| Volcano Type: | Shield volcano | ||
| Volcano Status: | Ar/Ar | ||
| Last Known Eruption: | 5050 BC ± 1000 years | ||
| Summit Elevation: | 1528 m | 5,013 feet | |
| Latitude: | 1.15°N | 1°9'0"N | |
| Longitude: | 36.23°E | 36°14'0"E | |
| The 30-km-wide Silali trachytic shield volcano, the largest Quaternary volcano in the northern Gregory Rift, completely straddles the East African Rift. An impressive 5 x 8 km summit caldera with 300 m deep walls is thought to have formed about 63,000 years ago. Caldera formation is thought to have been incremental, related to eruption of the Kantenmening basaltic and trachytic lava flows. A series of summit-area lava benches formed by eruptions from circumferential fissures has produced a volcano morphologically similar to Galapagos Islands volcanoes. Northern, eastern, and southern flanks are cut by a prominent broad rift zone 10-km wide and 30-km long, dotted with numerous pyroclastic cones. Lava domes on the upper eastern flank formed during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, until about 7 ka. Youthful parasitic cones abound on the caldera floor and on the northern and NE flanks; the youngest lava flows may be little more than a few hundred years old (Williams et al. 1984). Geothermal activity occurs within the caldera and on the upper eastern flanks. | |||
