Mount Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro rises approximately 4,900 m (16,000 ft) from its southern base in the plains near the municipality of Moshi to its summit height of 5,895 metres (19,341 ft). Kilimanjaro is the highest volcano outside South America.
Kilimanjaro is a large stratovolcano and is composed of three distinct volcanic cones: Kibo, the highest; Mawenzi at 5,149 metres (16,893 ft);[8] and Shira, the shortest at 4,005 metres (13,140 ft).[9] Mawenzi and Shira are extinct, while Kibo isdormant and could erupt again.[10]
Uhuru Peak is the highest summit on Kibo's crater rim. The Tanzania National Parks Authority, a governmental agency,[1] and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization[2] list the height of Uhuru Peak as 5,895 m (19,341 ft). That height is based on a British Ordnance Survey in 1952.[11] Since then, the height has been measured as 5,892 metres (19,331 ft) in 1999, 5,891 metres (19,327 ft) in 2008, and 5,888 metres (19,318 ft) in 2014.[11]
Geology:
The interior of the volcanic edifice is poorly known, given
the lack of large scale erosion that could have exposed the interiors of the
volcano.
Eruptive activity at the Shira centre commenced about 2.5
million years ago, with the last important phase occurring about 1.9 million
years ago, just before the northern part of the edifice collapsed.[10] Shira is
topped by a broad plateau at 3,800 metres (12,500 ft), which may be a filled
caldera. The remnant caldera rim has been degraded deeply by erosion. Before
the caldera formed and erosion began, Shira might have been between 4,900 m
(16,000 ft) and 5,200 m (17,000 ft) high. It is mostly composed of basic lavas
with some pyroclastics. The formation of the caldera was accompanied by lava
emanating from ring fractures, but there was no large scale explosive activity.
Two cones formed subsequently, the phonolitic one at the northwest end of the
ridge and the doleritic "Platzkegel" in the caldera centre.
Both Mawenzi and Kibo began erupting about 1 million years
ago.They are separated by the "Saddle Plateau" at 4,400 metres
(14,400 ft) elevation.
The youngest dated rocks at Mawenzi are about 448,000 years
old. Mawenzi forms a horseshoe shaped ridge with pinnacles and ridges opening
to the northeast which has a tower like shape resulting from deep erosion and a
mafic dyke swarm. Several large cirques cut into the ring, the largest of these
sits on top of the Great Barranco gorge. Also notable are the Ost and West
Barrancos on the northeastern side of the mountain. Most of the eastern side of
the mountain has been removed by erosion. Mawenzi has a subsidiary peak named
Neumann Tower (4,425 metres (14,518 ft)).
Kibo is the largest cone and is more than 15 miles (24 km)
wide at the "Saddle Plateau" altitude. The last activity here has
been dated to between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago and created the current
Kibo summit crater. Kibo still has gas-emitting fumaroles in the crater. Kibo
is capped by an almost symmetrical cone with escarpments rising 180 metres (590
ft) to 200 metres (660 ft) on the south side. These escarpments define a
2.5-kilometre-wide (1.6 mi) caldera caused by the collapse of the summit.
Within this caldera is the Inner Cone and within the crater of the Inner Cone
is the Reusch Crater, which the Tanganyika government in 1954 named after Gustav
Otto Richard Reusch upon his climbing the mountain for the 25th time (out of 65
attempts during his lifetime). The Ash Pit, 350 metres (1,150 ft) deep, lies
within the Reusch Crater.[18] About 100,000 years ago, part of Kibo's crater
rim collapsed, creating the area known as the Western Breach and the Great
Barranco.
An almost continuous layer of lavas buries most older
geological features, with the exception of exposed strata within the Great West
Notch and the Kibo Barranco. The former exposes intrusions of syenite. Kibo has
five main lava formations:
Phonotephrites and tephriphonolites of the "Lava Tower
group", on a dyke cropping out at 4,600 metres (15,100 ft), 482,000 years
ago
Tephriphonolite to phonolite lavas "characterized by
rhomb mega-phenocrysts of sodic feldspars" of the "Rhomb Porphyry
group", 460,000–360,000 years agoaphyric phonolite lavas, "commonly
underlain by basal obsidian horizons", of the "Lent group",
359,000–337,000 years agoporphyritic tephriphonolite to phonolite lavas of the
"Caldera rim group", 274,000–170,000 years ago
phonolite lava flows with aegirine phenocrysts, of the
"Inner Crater group", which represents the last volcanic activity on
Kibo
Kibo has more than 250 parasitic cones on its northwest and
southeast flanks that were formed between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago[10] and
erupted picrobasalts, trachybasalts, ankaramites, and basanites.[10][12][13]
They reach as far as Lake Chala and Taveta in the southeast and the Lengurumani
Plain in the northwest. Most of these cones are well preserved, with the
exception of the Saddle Plateau cones that were heavily affected by glacial
action. Despite their mostly small size, lava from the cones has obscured large
portions of the mountain. The Saddle Plateau cones are mostly cinder cones with
terminal effusion of lava, while the Upper Rombo Zone cones mostly generated
lava flows. All Saddle Plateau cones predate the last glaciation.
According to reports gathered in the 19th century from the
Maasai, Lake Chala on Kibo's eastern flank was the site of a village that was
destroyed by an eruption.
Drainage
The mountain is drained by a network of rivers and streams,
especially on the wetter and more heavily eroded southern side and especially
above 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). Below that altitude, increased evaporation and
human water usage reduces the waterflows. The Lumi and Pangani rivers drain
Kilimanjaro on the eastern and southern sides, respectively.
The origin of the name "Kilimanjaro" is not precisely known, but a number of theories exist. European explorers had adopted the name by 1860 and reported that "Kilimanjaro" was the mountain's Kiswahili name.[22] The 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia also records the name of the mountain as "Kilima-Njaro".
Johann Ludwig Krapf wrote in 1860 that Swahilis along the coast called the mountain "Kilimanjaro". Although he did not support his claim,[24] he claimed that "Kilimanjaro" meant either "mountain of greatness" or "mountain of caravans". Under the latter meaning, "Kilima" meant "mountain" and "Jaro" possibly meant "caravans".
Jim Thompson claimed in 1885, although he also did not support his claim, that the term Kilima-Njaro "has generally been understood to mean" the Mountain (Kilima) of Greatness (Njaro). "Though not improbably it may mean" the "White" mountain.
"Njaro" is an ancient Kiswahili word for "shining".[26] Similarly, Krapf wrote that a chief of the Wakamba people, whom he visited in 1849, "had been to Jagga and had seen the Kima jaJeu, mountain of whiteness, the name given by the Wakamba to Kilimanjaro...."[27] More correctly in the Kikamba language, this would be Kiima Kyeu, and this possible derivation has been popular with several investigators.
Others have assumed that "Kilima" is Kiswahili for "mountain". The problem with this assumption is that "Kilima" actually means "hill" and is, therefore, the diminutive of "Mlima", the proper Kiswahili word for mountain. However, "[i]t is ... possible ... that an early European visitor, whose knowledge of [Kiswahili] was not extensive, changed mlima to kilima by analogy with the two Wachagga names; Kibo and Kimawenzi.
A different approach is to assume that the "Kileman" part of Kilimanjaro comes from the Kichagga "kileme", which means "which defeats", or "kilelema", which means "which has become difficult or impossible". The "Jaro" part would "then be derived from njaare, a bird, or, according to other informants, a leopard, or, possibly from jyaro a caravan." Considering that the name Kilimanjaro has never been current among the Wachagga people, it is possible that the name was derived from Wachagga saying that the mountain was unclimbable, "kilemanjaare" or "kilemajyaro" and porters misinterpreted this as being the name of the mountain.
In the 1880s, the mountain became a part of German East Africa and was called "Kilima-Ndscharo" in German following the Kiswahili name components.
On 6 October 1889, Hans Meyer reached the highest summit on the crater ridge of Kibo. He named it "Kaiser-Wilhelm-Spitze" ("Kaiser Wilhelm peak") That name apparently was used until Tanzania was formed in 1964, when the summit was renamed "Uhuru", meaning "Freedom Peak" in Kiswahili.
History
First sightings by non-indigenous explorers
The mountain may have been known to non-Africans since antiquity. Sailors' reports recorded by Ptolemy mention a "Moon Mountain" and a spring lake of the Nile, which may indicate Kilimanjaro; although available historical information does not allow differentiation amongMount Kenya, the mountains of Ethiopia, the Virunga Mountains, Kilimanjaro, and the Rwenzori Mountains. Before Ptolemy, Aeschylusand Herodotus referred to "Egypt nurtured by the snows" and a spring between two mountains, respectively. One of these mentions two tall mountains in the coastal regions with a valley with traces of fire in between. Martín Fernández de Enciso, a Spanish traveller toMombasa who obtained information about the interior from native caravans, said in his Summa de Geografía (1519) that west of Mombasa "stands the Ethiopian Mount Olympus, which is exceedingly high, and beyond it are the Mountains of the Moon, in which are the soures of the Nile".
The German missionaries Johannes Rebmann of Mombasa and Krapf were the first Europeans to try to reach the snowy mountain. According to English geographer Halford Mackinder and English explorer Harry Johnston, Rebmann in 1848 was the first European to report the existence of Kilimanjaro. Hans Meyer has claimed that Rebmann first arrived in Africa in 1846 and has quoted Rebmann's diary entry of 11 May 1848 as saying, "This morning, at 10 o'clock, we obtained a clearer view of the mountains of Jagga, the summit of one of which was covered by what looked like a beautiful white cloud. When I inquired as to the dazzling whiteness, the guide merely called it 'cold' and at once I knew it could be neither more nor less than snow.... Immediately I understood how to interpret the marvelous tales Dr. Krapf and I had heard at the coast, of a vast mountain of gold and silver in the far interior, the approach to which was guarded by evil spirits." In light of these sources, J. Shearson Hyland's assertion that Rebmann first saw the mountain in 1840 appears to be erroneous.
In August 1861, the Prussian officer Baron Karl Klaus von
der Decken accompanied by English geologist R. Thornton made a first attempt to
climb Kibo but "got no farther than 8,200 feet (2,500 m) owing to the
inclemency of the weather."[32]:9[36] In December 1862, von der Decken
tried a second time together with Otto Kersten. They reached a height of 14,000
feet (4,300 m).
In August 1871, missionary Charles New became the
"first European to reach the equatorial snows" on Kilimanjaro at an
elevation of slightly more than 13,000 feet (4,000 m).[32]
In June 1887, the Hungarian Count Sámuel Teleki and Austrian
Lieutenant Ludwig von Höhnel made an attempt to climb the mountain. Approaching
from the saddle between Mawenzi and Kibo, Höhnel stopped at 4,950 meters
(16,240 ft), but Teleki pushed through until he reached the snow at 5,300
meters (17,400 ft
Later in 1887 during his first attempt to climb Kilimanjaro,
the German geology professor Hans Meyer reached the lower edge of the ice cap
on Kibo, where he was forced to turn back because he lacked the equipment
needed to handle the ice. The following year, Meyer planned another attempt
with Oscar Baumann, a cartographer, but the mission was aborted after the pair
were held hostage and ransomed during the Abushiri Revolt.
In the autumn of 1888, the American naturalist Dr. Abbott
and the German explorer Otto Ehrenfried Ehlers approached the summit from the
northwest. While Abbott turned back earlier, Ehlers at first claimed to have
reached the summit rim but, after severe criticism of that claim, later
withdrew it.
In 1889, Meyer returned to Kilimanjaro with the Austrian
mountaineer Ludwig Purtscheller for a third attempt.[39]:82 The success of this
attempt was based on the establishment of several campsites with food supplies
so that multiple attempts at the top could be made without having to descend
too far.[39]:82 Meyer and Purtscheller pushed to near the crater rim on October
3 but turned around exhausted from hacking footsteps in the icy slope.[39]:82
Three days later, on Purtscheller's fortieth birthday, they reached the highest
summit on the southern rim of the crater.[39]:82 They were the first to confirm
that Kibo has a crater.[39]:82 After descending to the saddle between Kibo and
Mawenzi, Meyer and Purtscheller attempted to climb the more technically
challenging Mawenzi but could reach only the top of Klute Peak, a subsidiary
peak, before retreating due to illness.[39]:84 On October 18, they reascended Kibo
to enter and study the crater, cresting the rim at Hans Meyers Notch.[39]:84 In
total, Meyer and Purtscheller spent 16 days above 15,000 feet (4,600 m) during
their expedition.[39]:84 They were accompanied in their high camps by Mwini
Amani of Pangani, who cooked and supplied the sites with water and
firewood.[32]:135–186
The first ascent of the highest summit of Mawenzi was made
on 29 July 1912, by the German climbers Edward Oehler and Fritz Klute, who
christened it Hans Meyer Peak. Oehler and Klute went on to make the third-ever
ascent of Kibo, via the Drygalski Glacier, and descended via the Western
Breach.
In 1989, the organizing committee of the 100-year
celebration of the first ascent decided to award posthumous certificates to the
African porter-guides who had accompanied Meyer and Purtscheller.[40] One
person in pictures or documents of the 1889 expedition was thought to match a
living inhabitant of Marangu, Yohani Kinyala Lauwo.[40] Lauwo did not know his
own age.[40] Nor did he remember Meyer or Purtscheller, but he remembered
joining a Kilimanjaro expedition involving a Dutch doctor who lived near the
mountain and that he did not get to wear shoes during the climb.[40] Lauwo
claimed that he had climbed the mountain three times before the beginning of
World War I.[40] The committee concluded that he had been a member of Meyer's
team and therefore must have been born around 1871.[40] Lauwo died on 10 May
1996, 107 years after the first ascent, but now is sometimes even suggested as
co-first-ascendant of Kilimanjaro.[41]
Fastest male ascent and descent
The fastest ascent-descent has been recorded by the
Swiss-Ecuadorian mountain guide Karl Egloff (born 16 March 1981 in Quito), who
ran to the top and back in 6 hours and 42 minutes on 13 August 2014.[42]
Previous records were held by Spanish mountain runner Kílian Jornet (7 hours,
14 minutes on 29 September 2010) and by Tanzanian guide Simon Mtuy (9 hours, 21
minutes on 22 February 2006).
Fastest female ascent and descent
The female ascent record is held by Anne-Marie Flammersfeld.
On 27 July 2015, she climbed to the summit in 8 hours, 32 minutes via the Umbwe
Route, which is about 30 kilometres (19 mi) long. Born in Germany but living in
Switzerland, she broke the record of Britain's Becky Shuttleworth who climbed
to the summit in 11 hours, 34 minutes on 20 September 2014.
Flammersfeld then needed 4 hours, 26 minutes to run down to
the Mweka Gate, for a combined asent and descent time of 12 hours, 58
minutes.[45] That broke the previous record of 18 hours, 31 minutes held by
Debbie Bachman.
Youngest and oldest people to summit
Despite an age-limit of 10 years for a climbing permit,
exceptions are occasionally granted, and Keats Boyd of Los Angeles was only
seven years old when he summited Kilimanjaro on 21 January 2008. The oldest
person to reach Uhuru Peak was American Robert Wheeler, who was 85 years and
201 days when he summited on 2 October 2014. In October 2010, Ether Kafer at
age 84 became the oldest woman to summit the mountain.
Ascents by people with disabilities
Wheelchair-bound Bernard Goosen scaled Kilimanjaro in six
days in 2007, while in 2012 Kyle Maynard, who has no forearms or lower legs,
crawled unassisted to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
First Descent By Snowboard
The first descent by snowboard was accomplished by Ace
Bailey on July1st, 1988. This descent, at the time, was also the highest
altitude descent by snowboard ever accomplished. This record was held until
July the following year. The ride was photographed by Barry Lewis.
Overview
Kilimanjaro National Park generated US $51 million in
revenue in 2013,[48]:285 the second-most of any Tanzanian national
park.[49]:258 (The Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which includes the heavily
visited Ngorongoro Crater, is not a national park.) The Tanzania National Parks
Authority reported that the park recorded 57,456 tourists during the 2011-12
budget year, of whom 16,425 hiked the mountain, which was well below the
capacity of 28,470 as specified in the park's General Management Plan.[50] The
mountain climbers generated irregular and seasonal jobs for about 11,000
guides, porters, and cooks in 2007,[51] although serious concerns have been
raised about their poor working conditions and inadequate wages.
There are seven official trekking routes by which to ascend
and descend Mount Kilimanjaro: Lemosho, Machame, Marangu, Mweka, Rongai, Shira,
and Umbwe.[52] Of all the routes, Machame is considered the most scenic, albeit
steeper, route.[53] It can be done in six or seven days.[53] The Rongai is the
easiest and least scenic of all camping routes.[54] The Marangu is also
relatively easy, but this route tends to be very busy, the ascent and descent
routes are the same, and accommodation is in shared huts with all other
climbers.
People who wish to trek to the summit of Kilimanjaro are
advised to undertake appropriate research[56] and ensure that they are both
properly equipped and physically capable. Though the climb is technically not
as challenging as when climbing the high peaks of the Himalayas or Andes, the
high elevation, low temperature, and occasional high winds make this a
difficult and dangerous trek. Acclimatisation is essential, and even the most
experienced trekkers suffer some degree of altitude sickness.
Caution signs at the Machamé trailhead
Sign at Uhuru peak,
indicating to trekkers that they have reached the top
Memorial recognizing
the German Hans Meyer as the first European to "conquer" Kilimanjaro
Dangers
A small study of people attempting to reach the summit of
Kilimanjaro in July and August 2005 found that 61.3 percent succeeded and 77
percent experienced acute mountain sickness (AMS). A retrospective study of 917
persons who attempted to reach the summit via the Lemosho or Machame routes
found that 70.4 percent experienced AMS, defined in this study to be headache,
nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, or loss of appetite.
Kilimanjaro's summit is well above the altitude at which
life-threatening high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) or high altitude cerebral
edema (HACE), the most severe forms of AMS, can occur. These health risks are
increased substantially by excessively fast climbing schedules motivated by
high daily national park fees, busy holiday travel schedules, and the lack of
permanent shelter on most routes.
A daily dose of 250 milligrams of acetazolamide is
associated with a 48 percent relative-risk reduction of AMS compared to
placebo, with a higher dose not providing additional protection but causing
more adverse side effects. The six-day Machame route, which involves one night
of "sleeping low", may delay the onset of AMS but does not ultimately
prevent its occurrence.
Falls on steep portions of the mountain and rock slides have
killed trekkers. For this reason, the route via the Arrow Glacier was closed
for several years, reopening in December 2007.[64]
Deaths
According to the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in
Moshi, 25 people died from January 1996 to October 2003 while climbing the
mountain. Seventeen were female and eight were male, ranging in age from 29 to
74. Fourteen died from advanced high altitude illness, including one with HACE,
five with HAPE, and six with both HACE and HAPE. The remaining eleven deaths
resulted from trauma (three), myocardial infarction (four), pneumonia (two),
cardio-pulmonary failure of other underlying cause (one), and acute
appendicitis (one). The overall mortality rate was an estimated 13.6 per 100,000
climbers (0.0136 percent).
On 18 July 2016, South African rally champion Gugu Zulu died
while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.[66] Gugu was climbing Kilimanjaro with his
wife Letshego and project leader Richard Mabaso. The team was led by
experienced mountaineer, Sibusiso Vilane. Gugu was part of the Trek4Mandela
initiative that saw prominent South Africans try to summit the mountain for
Mandela Day.
On 12 September 2015, 33-year-old Scott Dinsmore from the
United States was killed in a rock fall while climbing Kilimanjaro.
On 19 September 2008, ex-Central Intelligence Agency agent
Ken Moskow died from altitude sickness while just 20 yards (18 m) short of
reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro.
In January 2006, three persons from the United States were
killed in a rock fall while climbing Kilimanjaro.
Mapping
A map of the Kibo cone on Mount Kilimanjaro was published by
the British government's Directorate of Overseas Surveys in 1964 based on
aerial photography conducted in 1962 (Subset of Kilimanjaro, East Africa
(Tanganyika) Series Y742, Sheet 56/2, D.O.S. 422 1964, Edition 1, Scale
1:50,000).
Tourist mapping was first published by the Ordnance Survey
in England in 1989 based on the original DOS mapping (1:100,000, 100 ft
intervals, DOS 522). West Col Productions produced a map with tourist
information in 1990 (1:75,000, 100 metre contour intervals, inset maps of Kibo
and Mawenzi on 1:20,000 and 1:30,000 scales respectively and 50 metre contour
interval). In the last few years, numerous other maps have become available of
various qualities.
Vegetation
Cloud forest on the Marangu route on the southeast slope.
Natural forests cover about 1,000 square kilometres (250,000
acres) on Kilimanjaro.[73] In the foothill area maize, beans, and sunflowers
(on the western side also wheat) are cultivated. Remnants of the former savanna
vegetation with Acacia, Combretum, Terminalia and Grewia also occur. Between
1,000 metres (3,300 ft) and 1,800 metres (5,900 ft), coffee also appears as
part of the "Chagga home gardens" agroforestry. Native vegetation at
this altitude range (Strombosia, Newtonia, and Entandrophragma) is limited to
inaccessible valleys and gorges and is completely different from vegetation at
higher altitudes. On the southern slope montane forests first contain Ocotea
usambarensis as well as ferns and epipythes, farther up in cloud forests
Podocarpus latifolius, Hagenia abyssinica and Erica excelsa grow as well as
fog-dependent mosses. On the drier northern slopes olive, Croton-Calodendrum,
Cassipourea, and Juniperus form forests in order of increasing altitude.
Between 3,100 metres (10,200 ft) and 3,900 metres (12,800 ft) lie Erica bush
and heathlands, followed by Helichrysum until 4,500 metres (14,800 ft).
Neophytes have been observed, including Poa annua.
Records from the Maundi crater at 2,780 metres (9,120 ft)
indicate that the vegetation of Kilimanjaro has varied over time. Forest
vegetation retreated during the Last Glacial Maximum and the ericaceous
vegetation belt lowered by 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) between 42,000 and 30,000
years ago because of the drier and colder conditions.
Animal life
Large animals are rare on Kilimanjaro and are more frequent
in the forests and lower parts of the mountain. Elephants and Cape buffaloes
are among the animals that can be potentially hazardous to trekkers. Bushbucks,
chameleons, dik-diks, duikers, mongooses, sunbirds, and warthogs have been
reported as well. Zebras and hyenas have sporadically been observed on the
Shira plateau.
Specific species associated with the mountain include the
Kilimanjaro shrew and the chameleon Kinyongia tavetana.
Climate
The climate of Kilimanjaro is influenced by the height of
the mountain, which allows the simultaneous influence of the equatorial trade
winds and the high altitude anti-trades, and the isolated position of the
mountain. Kilimanjaro has daily upslope and nightly downslope winds, a regimen
stronger on the southern than the northern side of the mountain. The flatter
southern flanks are more extended and affect the atmosphere more strongly.
Kilimanjaro has two distinct rainy seasons, one from March
to May and another around November. The northern slopes receive much less rainfall
than the southern ones. The lower southern slope receives 800 to 900
millimetres (31 to 35 in) annually, rising to 1,500 to 2,000 millimetres (59 to
79 in) at 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) altitude and peaking "partly over"
3,000 millimetres (120 in) in the forest belt at 2,000 to 2,300 metres (6,600
to 7,500 ft). In the alpine zone, annual precipitation decreases to 200
millimetres (7.9 in).
The average temperature in the summit area is approximately
−7 °C (19 °F). Nighttime surface temperatures on the Northern Ice Field (NIF)
fall on average to −9 °C (16 °F) with an average daytime high temperature of −4
°C (25 °F). During nights of extreme radiational cooling, the NIF can cool to
as low as −15 to −27 °C (5 to −17 °F).
Snowfall can occur any time of year but is associated mostly
with northern Tanzania's two rainy seasons (November–December and March–May).
Precipitation in the summit area occurs principally as snow and graupel (250 to
500 millimetres (9.8 to 19.7 in) per year) and ablates within days or years.
Glaciers
Aerial view of the Kibo summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in 1938.
Kibo's diminishing ice cap exists because Kilimanjaro is a
little-dissected, massive mountain that rises above the snow line. The cap is
divergent and outwards splits up into individual glaciers. The central portion
of the ice cap is interrupted by the presence of the Kibo crater.The summit
glaciers and ice fields do not display significant horizontal movements because
their low thickness precludes major deformation.
Geological evidence shows five successive glacial episodes
during the Quaternary period, namely First (500,000 BP), Second (greater than
360,000 years ago to 240,000 BP), Third (150,000 to 120,000 BP), Fourth (also
known as "Main") (20,000 to 17,000 BP), and Little (16,000 to 14,000
BP). The Third may have been the most extensive, and the Little appears to be
statistically indistinguishable from the Fourth.
A continuous ice cap covering approximately 400 square
kilometres (150 sq mi) down to an elevation of 3,200 metres (10,500 ft) covered
Kilimanjaro during the Last Glacial Maximum in the Pleistocene epoch (the Main
glacial episode), extending across the summits of Kibo and Mawenzi.[9][15]
Because of the exceptionally prolonged dry conditions during the subsequent
Younger Dryas stadial, the ice fields on Kilimanjaro may have become extinct
11,500 years BP.[82] Ice cores taken from Kilimanjaro's Northern Ice Field
(NIF) indicates that the glaciers there have a "basal age" of 11,700
years,[84] although an analysis of ice taken in 2011 from exposed vertical
cliffs in the NIF supports an age extending only to 800 years BP.
Higher precipitation rates at the beginning of the Holocene
epoch (11,500 years BP) allowed the ice cap to reform. The glaciers survived a
widespread drought during a three century period beginning around 4,000 years
BP.
Vertical margin wall of the Rebmann Glacier in 2005 with
Mount Meru in the background.
A vertical glacier margin wall as seen from Gilman's Point
on the crater rim at a sunrise in 1998
In the late 1880s, the summit of Kibo was completely covered
by an ice cap covering about 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi) with outlet
glaciers cascading down the western and southern slopes, and except for the
inner cone, the entire caldera was buried. Glacier ice also flowed through the
Western Breach.
The slope glaciers retreated rapidly between 1912 and 1953,
in response to a sudden shift in climate at the end of the 19th century that
made them "drastically out of equilibrium", and more slowly
thereafter. Their continuing demise indicates they are still out of equilibrium
in response to a constant change in climate over the last 100 years.
In contrast to the persistent slope glaciers, the glaciers
on Kilimanjaro's crater plateau have appeared and disappeared repeatedly during
the Holocene epoch, with each cycle lasting a few hundred years.It appears that
decreasing specific humidity instead of temperature changes has caused the
shrinkage of the slope glaciers since the late 19th century. No clear warming
trend at the elevation of those glaciers occurred between 1948 and 2005.
Although air temperatures at that elevation are always below freezing, solar
radiation causes melting on their vertical faces. "There is no pathway for
the plateau glaciers other than to continuously retreat once their vertical
margins are exposed to solar radiation."[9] Vertical ice margin walls are
a unique characteristic of the summit glaciers and a major place of the
shrinkage of the glaciers. They manifest stratifications, calving, and other
ice features.
Almost 85 percent of the ice cover on Kilimanjaro
disappeared from October 1912 to June 2011, with coverage decreasing from 11.40
square kilometres (4.40 sq mi) to 1.76 square kilometres (0.68 sq mi).[88]:423
From 1912 to 1953, there was about a 1.1 percent average annual loss.[86] The
average annual loss for 1953 to 1989 was 1.4 percent while the loss rate for
1989 to 2007 was 2.5 percent.[86] Of the ice cover still present in 2000,
almost 40 percent had disappeared by 2011.[88]:425 The glaciers are thinning in
addition to losing areal coverage,[86] and do not have active accumulation
zones with retreat occurring on all glacier surfaces. Loss of glacier mass is
caused by both melting and sublimation.[82] While the current shrinking and
thinning of Kilimanjaro's ice fields appears to be unique within its almost
twelve millennium history, it is contemporaneous with widespread glacier
retreat in mid-to-low latitudes across the globe.[86] At the current rate, most
of the ice on Kilimanjaro will disappear by 2040 and "it is highly
unlikely that any ice body will remain after 2060".
A complete disappearance of the ice would be of only
"negligible importance" to the water budget of the area around the
mountain. The forests of Kilimanjaro, far below the ice fields, "are [the]
essential water reservoirs for the local and regional populations".
The Kilimanjaro glaciers have been used for deriving ice
core records, including two from the southern icefield. Based on this data,
this icefield formed between 1,250 and 1,450 years BP.
Mythology
Local legends by the Chagga people tell how a man named Tone
once provoked a god, Ruwa, to bring famine upon the land. The people became
angry at Tone, forcing him to flee. Nobody wanted to protect him but a solitary
dweller who had stones that turned miraculously into cattle. The dweller bid
that Tone never open the stable of the cattle. When Tone did not heed the
warning and the cattle escaped, Tone followed it but the fleeing cattle threw
up hills to run on, including Mawenzi and Kibo. Tone finally collapsed on Kibo,
ending the pursuit.
Another legend has it that Kibo and Mawenzi were good
neighbours, until Mawenzi played a prank on Kibo and threw away embers he had
received from Kibo and claimed that they had burned out. Kibo eventually got
angry and beat Mawenzi badly, explaining why the mountain is so badly degraded.
This theory explains Mawenzi's name as "the Battered".
Other legends tell of ivory-filled graves of elephants on
the mountain, and of a cow named Rayli that produces miraculous fat from her
tail glands. If a man tries to steal such a gland but is too slow in his moves,
Rayli will blast a powerful snort and blow the thief hurling down into the
plain.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.