Menengai

{{Short description|Shield volcano in Kenya}} {{Infobox mountain | name = Menengai | image = Menengai crater view from the edge.jpg | image_caption = Menengai Crater - view from the edge | elevation_m = 2,278 | elevation_ref = | prominence = | location = [[Nakuru County]], [[Kenya]] | range = | map = Kenya | map_caption = Location in Kenya | label_position = bottom | coordinates = {{coord|0.20|S|36.07|E|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | topo = | formed_by = [[Volcanism]] along the [[Gregory Rift]] | type = [[Shield volcano]] | age = | last_eruption = 6050 BCE (?) | first_ascent = | easiest_route = via taking the north east route for bus }}

'''Menengai''' '''Crater''' is a massive [[shield volcano]] with one of the biggest [[caldera]]s in the world, in the [[Great Rift Valley, Kenya]]. It is the largest volcano caldera in [[Kenya]] and the second largest volcano caldera in [[Africa]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Menengai Crater|url=http://kembu.com/index.php/excursions/menengai-crater|access-date=28 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222093657/http://www.kembu.com/index.php/excursions/menengai-crater|archive-date=22 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Volcanic formed rich loam soils enrich the adjacent farmland around its flanks. The crater is on the floor of the [[Rift valley|Rift Valley]]. The volcano formed about 200,000 years ago and the prominent 12 x 8 km caldera formed about 8000 years ago. The caldera floor is covered with numerous post caldera lava flows. The Menengai volcano is considered one of the best-preserved [[Krakatau]]-style calderas in the world.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Seach|first1=John|title=Menengai Volcano - John Seach|url=http://www.volcanolive.com/menengai.html|website=www.volcanolive.com|access-date=28 February 2015}}</ref> Menengai has very little sediment in the caldera which is a thick mass of lava boulders and inaccessible ridges. <ref>{{cite web|title=Menengai Crater|url=http://kembu.com/index.php/excursions/menengai-crater|access-date=28 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222093657/http://www.kembu.com/index.php/excursions/menengai-crater|archive-date=22 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Volcanic activity continues <ref>{{cite web|title=Menengai Crater Kenya / Rift Valley / Nakuru /|url=http://wikimapia.org/1821974/Menengai-Crater|website=wikimapia|publisher=wikimapia|access-date=28 February 2015}}</ref> and a current project under the GDC is at an advanced stage towards geothermal power generation.<ref>{{cite web|last1=OBWOCHA|first1=BEATRICE|title=Menengai crater to become active again|url=http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2000027249/menengai-crater-to-become-active-again|access-date=28 February 2015}}</ref>

Menengai is {{convert|10|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} north of [[Nakuru]], the fourth-biggest city in Kenya.

==See also== * [[List of volcanoes in Kenya]] * [[Menengai Forest]] * [[Railway stations in Kenya]]

==See also== * {{cite gvp|vnum=222060|name=Menengai|accessdate=2020-04-01}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Mountains of Kenya]] [[Category:Volcanoes of Kenya]] [[Category:Polygenetic shield volcanoes]] [[Category:Nakuru]] [[Category:Nakuru County]] [[Category:VEI-6 volcanoes]] [[Category:Holocene shield volcanoes]] [[Category:Volcanoes of the Great Rift Valley]] [[Category:Calderas of Kenya]] [[Category:Shield volcanoes of Africa]]