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Petrology and Geochemistry of Continental Rifts pp 101–121Cite as

The Volcanological Development of the Kenya Rift

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Part of the book series: NATO Advanced Study Institutes Series ((ASIC,volume 36))

Abstract

Cainozoic volcanics are exposed along the entire length (750 km) of the sinuous but generally north-south Kenya rift. At various stages in its evolution, the volcanics filled and spread beyond the rift depression to coalesce with the products of eruptions at or far beyond its margins. As a result, Miocene to Recent lavas and pyroclastics have come to be distributed in a meridional belt up to 550 km wide. The volcanics embrace the full compositional range from basalts and nephelinites to trachytes, phonolites and alkali rhyolites. They occupy the graben to depths exceeding 3 km, and accumulations up to 2.5 km thick on the rift shoulders account for most of the highland areas near the equator. The extent to which pre-existing topography controlled the spreads of lavas and ignimbrites is frequently underestimated.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Lancaster, England

    L. A. J. Williams

Authors
  1. L. A. J. Williams
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mineralogical-Geological Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    E.-R. Neumann

  2. Geological Institute, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    I. B. Ramberg

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© 1978 D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland

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Williams, L.A.J. (1978). The Volcanological Development of the Kenya Rift. In: Neumann, ER., Ramberg, I.B. (eds) Petrology and Geochemistry of Continental Rifts. NATO Advanced Study Institutes Series, vol 36. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-9803-2_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-9803-2_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-009-9805-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-9803-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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