Lake Turkana

History

The lake was initially baptized lake Rudolf in honor of the crown prince to the Empire Austro-Hungarian Rodolphe of Habsbourg-Lorraine by Samuel Teleki and Ludwig von Höhnel in 1888. It was famous lake Turkana in 1975.

Physical and human geography

It is of the more permanent big lake in desert medium and about the more big lake Alcalin. Its alkaline water makes that it does not represent major economic interest. The area is hot and very dry. The winds towards the broad one or the shore can be extremely powerful, the cooling and being heated lake more slowly than the grounds. Geology is dominated by the volcanic formations. The fault of the Rift is accompanied by épanchement by lava, spectacular volcanos like the Longonot and the Suswa. At the southern end of the lake, emerge from the recent volcanic apparatuses, in particular a cone Stromboli in with the almost perfect forms.

Three rivers are thrown in the lake: the Omo, the Turkwell and the Kerio. The only discharge system is evaporation. In spite of that, the level of water dropped by 10 m between 1975 and 1993. The rivers which emerge in the lake allow to the cattle breeders to produce Sorgho. Fishing, in particular that of enormous the Pole of the Nile, attracts less the populations.

The area was preserved by its insulation (three days of car of Nairobi, the capital) and receives the visit only very few Western visitors.

The inhabitants are primarily Gabbra, Rendille and Turkana. One of the villages close to the lake is El Molo. Turkana call the lake anam Ka' alakol , which means “the sea with many fish”. Ka' alakol is also at the origin of Kalokol, the name of a city located on Western bank of the lake, in the east of Lodwar.

Fauna

The lake Turkana, sometimes called the “Sea of Jade”, contains poles of the Nile and Tilapia. It formerly contained the most important African population of Crocodile S of the the Nile: the only central island sheltered 14 of it; 000.

The presence of water in such an arid zone confers on the lake an international importance like zone of transit for the migratory birds. The area is populated of Lion S, of Guépard S, Girafe S and many other mammals. The elephant S and the Rhinocéros seem to have disappeared.

The National parks of the lake Turkana from now on are registered with the World heritage of UNESCO.

Prehistory

The area is rich in old sedimentary formations containing lithic industries, faunal vestiges and fossils of very old Hominides. Richard Leakey is one of the first to have led prospections and excavations in the area, initially on bank Is in the area of Koobi Fora, then on western bank.

In Koobi Drilled, it in particular discovered in 1972 the cranium KNM-ER 1470, relatively complete and whose age is estimated at approximately 2 million years. Allotted initially to the Homo habilis , it was used thereafter to define the species Homo rudolfensis .

In 1984, Kamoya Kimeu discovered a very complete skeleton with Nariokotome on Western bank. Called the “Turkana Servant boy”, KNM-WT 15000 is a relatively large Homo ergaster adolescent: its size is approximately 1,60 m and it could have reached 1,85 m at the adulthood.

In 1998, the team of Meave Leakey discovered a relatively complete cranium which made it possible to define a new kind and a new species: the Kenyanthropus platyops .

See too

Liste of the lakes of the world
Lac Naivasha
Lac Nakuru
Laces Baringo
Lac Bogoria
Vallée of the great rift

External bonds

Lake Turkana' S entry one UNESCO' S list off World Heritage Sites
Map off the Lake Turkana basin Satellite At Toilets Resources eAtlas
images showing Lake Turkana' S falling toilets levels
National Sibiloi Park, World Heritage Site
Ongoing Palaeoanthropological research in the Turkana Basin

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