Introduction
The coastline of Kenya is about 530 km long. Essentially, the whole length of the coast forms part of the Lowland Plain (Ojany 1966, 1973), which has resulted from downwarping of the coastal basin (in Palaeozoic times), marine transgression (in Mesozoic times), and a fluctuating sea level (during Quaternary times). A number of small faults have been mapped along the coastal belt. Of these it is probably the inferred continuation of the Ruvu-Mombasa faul that has had the most significant effect on the relief of the area.
Spring tides at Kilindini have a maximum range of 4.0 m, with an average for most months between 2.5 m and 3.6 m. Malindi has a tide range of 2.9 m.
The Kenyan Coastline
The southern half of the coast is quite different from the northern half. Up to Malindi the shore sediment are mainly marine and lagoonal in origin (Abuodha 2004). In the center the Ras Ngomeni coral and coquinoid island has been joined by a sandy isthmus to the mainland, thus forming a...
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Abuodha J (2004) Geomorphological evolution of the southern coastal zone of Kenya. J Afr Earth Sci 39:517–525
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Bird ECF, Guilcher A (1982) Preliminary observations on the modern fringing reefs of Kenya and the associated shore forms Rev Geomorphol Dynam 31:113–125(in French).
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Ojany FF (1966) The physique of Kenya a contribution in landscape analysis. Ann Assoc Am Geogr 56:183–196
Ojany FF (1973) Kenya: a study in physical and human geography. Longman, London
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Ojany, F. (2010). Kenya. In: Bird, E.C.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of the World's Coastal Landforms. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8639-7_181
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