Kenya
Coast:
The
coastline:- is broken and composed of beaches,
coral cliffs and reefs, creeks and numerous offshore
coral islands. Inland, a mainly level but narrow coastal
plain lies on sedimentary rocks, with some igneous intrusions
such as Dzombo and Mrima. Beyond low rolling hills lies
the so-called Nyika Plateau, mainly on sedimentary rocks.
This landscape covers almost the entire northeastern
sector of the country, on very
gradual slopes.
The Great Rift Valley, with its associated escarpments
and mountains, is a major feature. It runs the length
of the country from Lake Turkana in the north to Lake
Natron on the southern border with Tanzania. The central
portion of the rift is raised, with the Aberdare Mountains
and Mt Kenya to the east and the Mau Escarpmentand Cherangani
Hills to the west. The northern and southernmost sectors
of the rift are low-lying, arid and rugged, with spectacular
volcanic landforms.
The region west of the central highlands is characterized
by Precambrian metamorphic rocks and linear basement
hills. Mt Elgon, an old, eroded volcano, intrudes through
the ancient shield on the Uganda border. The lake Victoria
basin generally has a gently sloping landscape and an
eroded surface that exposes granitic outcrops.
Isolated
hills and mountains, such as Mt Kulal, Mt Nyiro and
Mt Marsabit, are scattered to the north and east of
the central highlands. The Taita Hills, rising from
the southeastern plateau, are ancient fault-block formation,
the northernmost of a chain of isolated peaks (the'eastern
arc') that stretches south to Malawi through eastern
and southern Tanzania. They sit almost cheek-by-jowl
with one of the region's recent volcanic ranges, the
Chyulu Hills. |