Lake Baringo
Lake Baringo | |
---|---|
Basin countries | Kenya |
Surface area | 130 km2 (50 sq mi) |
Surface elevation | 1,000 m (3,300 ft) |
Designated | 10 January 2002 |
Reference no. | 1159[1] |
Lake Baringo is, after
The lake is in a remote hot and dusty area with over 470 species of birds, occasionally including migrating flamingos. A Goliath heronry is located on a rocky islet in the lake known as Gibraltar.
The existence of Lake Baringo was first reported in Europe by Ludwig Krapf and J. Rebmann, German missionaries stationed at Mombasa, about 1850; in J. H. Speke’s map of the Nile sources (1863) Baringo is confused with Kavirondo Gulf of Victoria Nyanza; it figures in Sir H. M. Stanley’s map (1877) as a large sheet of water N.E. of Victoria Nyanza. Joseph Thomson, in his journey through the Masai country in 1883, was the European to see the lake and to correct the exaggerated notions as to its size. Native tradition, however, asserts that the lake formerly covered a much larger area.[3]
Description
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
While stocks of Nile tilapia in the lake are now low, the decline of this species has been mirrored by the success of another, the marbled lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus) which was introduced to the lake in 1974 and which now provides the majority of fish from the lake. 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 area, especially on the Loboi Plain south of the lake.[5]
A characteristic of the country in the neighbourhood of the lake are the “hills” of the termites (white ants). They are hollow columns 10 to 12 ft. high and from 1 ft. to 18 in. broad. The greater kudu, almost unknown elsewhere in East Africa, inhabits the flanks of the Laikipia escarpment to the east of the lake and comes to the foot-hills around Baringo to feed.[3]
A recent study showed that there were both positive and negative relationships between some water quality parameters and the prevalence of recovered parasites. O. niloticus baringoensis from Lake Baringo also recorded high parasite prevalence and this calls for sensitization of the public on the risks that may arise from the consumption of undercooked infected fish.[5]
The lake has several small islands, the largest being Ol Kokwe Island. Ol Kokwe, an extinct volcanic centre related to Korosi volcano north of the lake, has several hot springs and fumaroles, some of which have precipitated sulfur deposits. A group of hot springs discharge along the shoreline at Soro near the northeastern corner of the island.
Several important archaeological and palaeontological sites, some of which have yielded fossil
The main town near the lake is Marigat, while smaller settlements include
A Kenyan Government report in 2021 estimated that the surface area of Lake Baringo had increased by over 100% to 268 square kilometres over the period 2010-2020.[10] Lakeside villages were flooded and people displaced.[11] There have also been increases in animal populations such as crocodiles, along with interactions between these animals and people.[12]
See also
- Rift Valley lakes
- Korosi, a volcano at the northern end of Lake Nakuru
References
- ^ "Lake Baringo". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ a b See "Kenya designates freshwater lake in Great Rift Valley," at Ramsar 2009 - 2002.
- ^ a b Chisholm 1911, p. 418.
- ^ "Kenya Birds - baringo". www.kenyabirds.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2008-03-02. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
- ^ S2CID 211171158.
- ^ Tugen Hills examples from Smithsonian website, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, retrieved 1 May 2010[permanent dead link]
- ISBN 9781862390362, retrieved 1 May 2010
- ^ "Lake Baringo". www.lake-baringo.com. Archived from the original on 2012-01-15. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
- ^ Tobiko, Keriako (2021). "Rising Water Levels in Kenya's Rift Valley Lakes, Turkwel Gorge Dam and Lake Victoria" (PDF). Kenya Government and UNDP. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-04-28. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ Baraka, Carey (2022-03-17). "A drowning world: Kenya's quiet slide underwater". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
- ^ "Kenya's Lake Baringo: Surviving hippo and crocodile attacks". BBC News. 2023-09-06. Retrieved 2023-10-08.
Attribution
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Baringo". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 418. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
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