The highest mountain in Africa is an extinct volcano. Marangu Trail

Kilimanjaro- the highest and potentially active stratovolcano in Africa, located in the northeast of Tanzania, the highest point of the continent (5895 m above sea level). From 1902 to 1918 it was called Kaiser Wilhelm Peak(German) Kaiser-Wilhelm-Spitze). Kilimanjaro rises above the Masai plateau, which is located at an altitude of 900 meters above sea level. There are several versions about the origin of the name. In 2003, scientists concluded that molten lava lies just 400 meters below the crater of Kibo's main peak. While no activity other than the current gas emissions is predicted, there are concerns that the volcano could collapse, leading to a major eruption similar to Mount St. Helens. Several landslides and ground shifts have already occurred on Kibo in the past. As a result of one of them, the so-called “western gap” was formed.

Kilimanjaro has no documented eruptions, but local legends speak of volcanic activity 150-200 thousand years ago. The highest point of the mountain and Africa is the Uhuru peak of the Kibo volcano, 5895 m, belonging to the “Seven Summits”. The peak was first conquered by Hans Meyer and Ludwig Purtscheller in the city. The other two peaks are also extinct volcanoes: Mawenzi (5149 m, the third highest peak in Africa after Uhuru and Mount Kenya) and Shira (3962 m).

Story

The first mention of these snow-capped mountains dates back to the 2nd century AD. e. They are indicated on geographical map Ptolemy. But the date of discovery of Kilimanjaro by Europeans is considered to be May 11, 1848, and the discoverer is the German pastor Johannes Rebmann. In 1861, a height of 2500 m was conquered, in 1862 the mark of 4200 m was reached, in 1883, 1884 and 1887 - the mark of 5270 m; all of these ascents were accomplished by the Hungarian Count Samuel Teleki. On October 5, 1889, German traveler Hans Meyer, together with Austrian climber Ludwig Purtscheller, reached the summit for the first time. In 1996, their fellow climber from the Chaga people, Mzee Lauvo (Lawo), who was supposed to be more than 120 years old, was still alive in Marangu. Mawenzi was only conquered in 1912 by Ohler and Klute.

The book Life, Travel and Work in East Africa describes how its author, Charles New, attempted to conquer Kilimanjaro in 1861 wearing tropical shorts and a light shirt, while his 13 porters were completely naked. It is not surprising that they were unable to reach the summit, although they reached the snow line.

origin of name

The name comes from the Swahili language and supposedly means "mountain that sparkles."

It is not known exactly how the name came about Kilimanjaro, there are several theories on this matter. Many of these theories suggest that the word is broken down into Kilima(Swahili for "hill, small mountain") and Njaro, whose versions vary from ancient word Swahili white or sparkling to the word of the Kichagga language (English) jaro, meaning caravan. The disadvantage of these theories is that they cannot explain why the diminutive is used kilima instead of what is appropriate for a mountain mlima. Another approach suggests that the name comes from a Kichagga word kilemanjaare or kilemajyaro, meaning “one who defeats a bird/leopard/caravan.” However, this theory does not explain the fact that the name Kilimanjaro itself was not used in the Kichagga language until recently.

Mountaineering

Climbing Uhuru Peak (5895 m, Kibo Volcano) is considered quite simple, but requires time for altitude acclimatization. The main routes leading to its peak (Lemosho, Machame, Umbwe, Marangu and Rongai) can be climbed by almost anyone (if there are no contraindications for health reasons) without mountaineering training and special equipment. Due to the proximity of the mountain to the equator and the altitudinal zone, when climbing, a person consistently overcomes most of the Earth’s climatic zones. According to statistics, only about 60% of all comers reach the top. Of the popular routes, the Marangu trail has the worst success rate as it is the only route that can be used for a five-day climb, which for many is a rather difficult challenge. An even smaller number of ascents are carried out along the Western Breach route, but it is of interest only to professional climbers due to its difficulty.

Climbing the Mawenzi volcano requires mountaineering training and this moment prohibited due to high risk to life. For the most part, this ban was made due to the influence of the media on tourist flow to Tanzania. Provocative headlines (such as “Death on Kilimanjaro”) create a negative impression among readers about the mountain range as a whole, blurring the boundaries between professional mountaineering and trekking.

The absolute record for the fastest ascent and descent of Kilimanjaro belongs to the Swiss Karl Igloff. Karl Egloff) - 6 hours 42 minutes and 24 seconds (2014, along the Umbwe route). Previously, the ascent record was held by the Spaniard Kilian Jorne Burgada (English) Russian , which ascended and descended in 7 hours 14 minutes (net time for ascent 5 hours 23 minutes and 50 seconds), in turn, by several minutes beat the previous record (in terms of ascent speed) of Kazakhstani Andrei Puchinin in 2009 - 5 hours 24 minutes and 40 seconds along the Marangu route.

Geography

Location

Kilimanjaro rises in northeastern Tanzania to 5,891.8 meters as measured in 2008 using GPS and gravimetry, replacing the previous value of 5,895 meters obtained in 1952 by a British team. The height, which has been the subject of measurements since 1889, with results that differed by more than a hundred meters, is the largest in Africa and therefore Kilimanjaro is one of the Seven Summits. It is located near the border with Kenya, which runs along the northern and eastern slopes of the mountain. It rises in the middle of a flat savannah that surrounds the teardrop-shaped mountain at 4,800 - 5,200 meters, making it the highest isolated mountain in the world. Kilimanjaro covers an area of ​​388,500 hectares. The mountain with an oval-shaped volcanic cone extends 70 km from northwest to southeast and 50 kilometers from northeast to southwest and is located 340 km south of the equator. Mount Meru is located 75 kilometers to the southwest, and Mount Kenya, the second highest peak in Africa, is 300 kilometers to the north. The nearest town, Moshi, is located south of the mountain in Tanzania, and is the main starting point for climbing it. Kilimanjaro International Airport, located fifty kilometers southwest of the summit, has served the entire region and all its parks since 1971. Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, and Dar es Salaam are respectively 380 km to the southwest and 450 km to the southeast, while Nairobi is only 200 km to the north-northwest. Coast Indian Ocean- 270 km from Mt. Administratively, Kilimanjaro is located in the Kilimanjaro region, partially covering the areas of Hai, Moshi Rural and Rombo, where the highest point is located, and most of mountains. The volcano is fully included in National Park Kilimanjaro.

Topography

Kilimanjaro is an almost conical stratovolcano. It consists of three main peaks, which are also extinct volcanoes: Shira in the west with 3,962 meters above sea level, Kibo with 5,891.8 meters in height in the center and Mawenzi with 5,149 meters in height in the east. Kibo is crowned at the top by an elliptical caldera 2.4 km wide and 3.6 km long, surrounding a crater called Reusch Crater with a diameter of 900 meters, in the center of which stands a cone of ash 200 meters in diameter, which called Ash Pit. The main peak, located on the southern edge of the crater, is called Ugur. Other famous points of Kibo are the Inner Cone at an altitude of 5835 meters, Hans Meyer Point, Gilman's Point, Leopard Point and Johann's Gulch. Yohanas "Notch", named after the guide who accompanied the first ascent of the mountain. To the southwest of the peak, about 100,000 years ago, a great shift created the Western Breach, rising on the Barranco Valley Mawenzi, sometimes considered the third highest peak in Africa after Mount Kenya, has been heavily eroded and now has the appearance of a dam that separates from the peaks of Hans Meier, Purtscheller Peak, South Peak and Nordeckle. English Nordecke) From their base several clefts go into east direction, in particular Greater and Lesser Barranco (English: Great Barranco, Lesser Barranco). The Saddle is a plateau with an area of ​​3600 hectares between Mawenzi and Kibo. The shire from which Johnsell Point is separated consists of half a fractured crater, of which only the southern and western edge. To the northeast of it, at 6,200 hectares, the mountain has the shape of a plateau. About 250 smaller cones lie on either side of these three peaks on a northwest/southeast axis.

Hydrology

Kilimanjaro's ice cap is limited to the peak of Kibo. In 2003 it covered the territory with total area 2 km². It consists:

• at the top:
  • from the Furtwängler glacier,
• on the Northern Icefield - glaciers:
  • Drygalski,
  • Great Penck
  • Little Penck
  • Pengalski (eng. Pengalski),
  • Lörtscher Notch and
  • Credner
• in the West:
  • Barranco Glaciers
    • or Small and Big Breach (eng. Little Breach, Big Breach),
  • Arrow and
  • Uhlig,
• on the Southern Icefield - glaciers:
  • Balletto,
  • Diamond
  • Heim (eng. Heim),
  • Kersten,
  • Decken,
  • Rebmann and
  • Ratzel
• and finally, the Eastern Icefield.

Geographic variability in precipitation and sunshine explains the differences in size between different ice fields.

Mount Kilimanjaro's cap has been shrinking since about 1850 due to a natural decrease in rainfall of 150 mm, but this trend accelerated significantly in the 20th century. Like the current one, the rapid and almost complete melting of the glacier on Kilimanjaro occurred 4000 years ago during a long 300-year drought. Thus, the average daily temperature has increased by 3°C during the last thirty years at Lyamungu, 1230 m on the southern slope. However, temperatures remain consistently below 0°C at altitudes where glaciers are found. Georg Kaser of the University of Innsbruck and Philipp Mothe of the University of Washington have shown that the sharp shrinkage of the glacier is mainly due to a decrease in precipitation. This may be due to local changes caused by deforestation, which leads to lower vegetation density and lower atmospheric humidity. There is a pattern between the decline in ice cover and the rate of forest loss, especially during the early twentieth century and during the stabilization process. However, as evidenced by the characteristic sharp shape of the ice, the ice is sublimated by solar radiation after several wet decades in the nineteenth century. This is likely accelerated by a slight decrease in albedo in the 20th century, especially in the 1920s and 1930s. Another phenomenon that causes glaciers to shrink is the absorption of heat by dark volcanic rocks and its distribution at the base of the glaciers. They melt, become unstable and break down, increasing the surface area exposed to solar radiation.

Flows from melting ice feed the two major rivers in the area, but 90% of the precipitation is retained by the forest. The disappearance of glaciers should not directly affect the local hydrological regime, unlike deforestation and human activities resulting from the quadrupling of water withdrawals for irrigation over the past forty years. Kilimanjaro forests receive 1.6 million cubic meters of water per year, 5% of which is in the form of precipitation. Two-thirds return to the atmosphere through evaporation. The forest plays a triple role as a reservoir: it retains water in the soil, in biomass and in the air. Since 1976, rainfall has decreased by an average of twenty million cubic meters per year, which is the volume of the current cap in three years, and 25% less in the last thirty years, equivalent to the annual drinking water consumption of a million jagga 11,000 years. It is believed that this is not caused by a change in temperature, but by a reduction in the amount of snowfall. Apparently, deforestation in the last century has seriously reduced the amount of water vapor that reaches the top of Kilimanjaro and falls there in the form of snow.

In ancient times, the tribes who lived at the foot of Kilimanjaro had never seen snow, so they were convinced that the top of the volcano was covered with silver. But they did not dare to test this hypothesis for quite a long time, since there was a connection with the mountain. great amount myths telling of demons who lived above, guarding treasures.

One day, the local leader made up his mind and sent several warriors on reconnaissance. When they reached the top, they immediately grabbed the silver in their hands, and it melted. And then the aborigines, feeling the cold of the silvery cap of the volcano, called it “The Abode of the God of Cold” and began to use this name no less often than the previous one - “Kilimanjaro” or “Sparkling Mountain”.

The Kilimanjaro volcano is so huge that its height is 5899 m, its length is 97 km, and its width is 64 km. The African continent is located at a slight distance from the main East African ridge, which stretches from east to west through the northern part of Tanzania. Kilimanjaro is located right on the border between this country and Kenya, and you can find it on the map using the following geographical coordinates Latitude 3° 4’ 32″ (3° 4’ 54) south and longitude 37° 21’ 11″ (37° 21’ 19) east.

Although the active volcanic activity of Kilimanjaro is not officially documented anywhere, there is information that the last strong eruption occurred quite recently - about two centuries ago. Currently, the mountain is considered, although an active, but inactive volcano, which can become active at any moment. At the top, emissions of sulfur and greenhouse gases have recently been recorded, and studies have shown that the lava is located some four hundred meters from earth's surface, under Uhuru Peak.

What Kilimanjaro looks like

The highest mountain in Africa was formed more than a million years ago due to excessively active volcanic activity and has quite characteristic contours: its gentle slopes rise to an elongated flat top. It consists of three separate volcanoes, which once united into one.

Shira

The oldest volcano, Shira, is located on the western side, and at the foot there is a fairly flat plateau with an area of ​​6.2 hectares. Nowadays, the height of Shira is 3810 meters above, whereas in earlier times, it was much higher and was destroyed during a strong eruption.

Mawenzi

It is located on the eastern side and currently represents a peak whose height is 5334 m. From the west, Mawenzi ends abruptly with a whole complex of rocks and gorges, and the height of the volcano on the eastern side is a little more than a kilometer.

Deep radial valleys can be seen at the base of the mountain. And between it and Kibo is the largest high-mountain treeless zone of the African continent - the huge Sedlo plateau, the area of ​​which exceeds 3.5 thousand hectares.

Kibo

Kibo, the youngest volcano (it is considered active and the most dangerous of the three), was formed during several extremely strong eruptions in a row, resulting in the size of its caldera being 2.4 km wide and 3.6 km long. After some time, during the next volcanic activity, first one volcanic cone with a crater 900 m in diameter appeared inside the basin, then an ash cone with a diameter of 200 meters formed in the middle of this crater.

Over time, the Kibo caldera formed a flat, snowy peak on Kilimanjaro (even though, according to the coordinates of the mountain, it is located only a few degrees south of the equator). Snow can be seen not only on the top of the mountain, but also on its upper northern and southern slopes. Here is Uhuru Peak, whose height is 5895 meters, and which is the most high point African continent.

Kilimanjaro Climate

The huge size of the volcano gives it the opportunity not only to actively influence, but also to shape the climate around itself. Moist air masses from the Indian Ocean are moving towards a huge mountain. Having stumbled upon a volcano, they crash and are forced to prematurely give up all the moisture they have in the form of rain or snow. At the same time, much less precipitation falls at the foot of the mountain than on the slopes:

• At the foot – from 500 to 900 mm per year;
• On slopes - about 3 thousand mm per year;
• At the top - about 200 mm per year.

Thus, a lot of precipitation falls near Kilimanjaro, which has a positive effect on the local vegetation (especially at the foot of the mountain). Small streams and rivers formed due to precipitation at the top of the mountain and flowing down carry life-giving moisture down to the pastures and fields.

They also fill the two major rivers that flow in this region. At the same time, 90% of the precipitation does not leave the mountains (it is retained by the forest), and, having saturated the soil, most of the water (2/3) evaporates and returns to the atmosphere. Recently, the amount of precipitation has been gradually decreasing, which is one of the reasons for the decrease in snow cover.

Flora and fauna of Kilimanjaro

The climate itself high volcano unique in the world, because due to the fact that the mountain is very close to the equator, and winter reigns on the top of Kilimanjaro, a person, when climbing up, crosses absolutely all the climatic zones of our planet (there are seven in total), each of which is distinguished by its own animal and vegetable world.

In the south - up to 1 thousand m, in the north - up to 1.6 thousand m

At the foot of Kilimanjaro, Africans actively grow maize, beans, peanuts, sunflowers, rice, coffee, and corn. There are also sugar and banana plantations. The land here is abundantly covered with herbaceous vegetation, shrubs and a few low-growing trees characteristic of the savannah. You can often see monkeys, leopards, servals, and honey badgers here.

1100–1800 m

This area of ​​the mountain is densely populated (500 people/km2). Representatives of the Chagga tribe built a network of irrigation canals here, and they grow, graze livestock, and keep apiaries.

The natives use natural resources (mainly foothill and mountain forests) very irrationally: many trees were cut down for arable land and used for fuel. Trees grow only in hollows or gorges.

1800 m – 4000 m

Here, too, local residents actively cut down the forest for timber and fuel. There are also a lot of forest plantations - huge plantations of cypresses, eucalyptus, pine trees, and in their shade vegetables are grown, and livestock are grazed in the meadows and near reservoirs.

The soil is thin, poor, clayey. The mountain forest zone begins at this altitude, the maximum amount of precipitation is observed - about 2 thousand mm per year, and temperatures range from 20°C to 28°C. At an altitude exceeding 2.4 thousand meters, a thick layer of clouds often forms, which are another important and additional source of moisture.

Rainforest at an altitude of about three thousand meters gradually disappears, but alpine heather shrubs appear. The soil becomes porous, so water penetrates well through it, there is little precipitation (from 760 to 1 thousand mm) - therefore, a huge number of cereals and bulbous plants can be found here.

4000 m – 4600 m

On the slopes of the mountain at an altitude of 3 to 4 thousand meters you can often see mountain swamps and meadows covered with bright flowers. Giraffes, elephants, lions, and some species of rodents live at this altitude.

4500 – 5000 m

An arid highland desert with little precipitation (about 200 mm per year) and little vegetation. The daily temperature difference here is about 40°C. The air at this altitude is thin and there is very strong solar radiation.

From 5000 m

And even higher, at the top of Kibo, snow, cold stone and eternal ice begin, covering the top of the mountain for 11 thousand years after the ice age ended. There are several glaciers in this area, each of them has its own name and thickness (this is primarily due to the fact that precipitation falls unevenly).

Kilimanjaro Ice Cap

It is the snows of the Kibo peak that have recently attracted the attention of researchers. The fact is that they are melting - and they are doing it extremely quickly: over the last century, according to scientists, snow cover has decreased by 80%.

The figures they give are impressive: at the beginning of the 21st century, the area occupied by snow was 2 km², while a hundred years ago this figure was 12.1 km². In the second half of the 20th century, the thickness of the snow cover decreased by an average of 17 meters and, apparently, continues to actively melt further. Many experts predict that snow on Kilimanjaro may soon disappear completely.

It is believed that this situation was caused not so much by a change in temperature as by active deforestation, due to which the amount of water vapor that rises into the sky and falls on the top of Kibo has decreased.

Another reason for the catastrophically rapid melting of snow is the volcano itself: its dark-colored volcanic rocks absorb heat and heat the glaciers below, which is why the glaciers melt and collapse, freeing the surface from snow and thus increasing the area of ​​​​the territory capable of absorbing the sun's rays.

Best time to go

Experienced tourists advise climbing the mountain from December to March, when there is no rainy season and the air temperature is optimal for humans - about 28-30 degrees. Although a seasoned climber can reach the top in less than a day, many people need adaptation to get used to the climate and avoid altitude sickness. Therefore, the trek to the top usually takes from 5 to 7 days.

Climb Kilimanjaro

The first Europeans climbed to the top of Africa's highest mountain only in 1889. It is noteworthy that when the anniversary of this event was celebrated a hundred years later, the guest of honor of the holiday was precisely the guide who accompanied the white people during the ascent - at that moment he was 18 years old.

Nowadays, you can only climb Kilimanjaro from Tanzania - there are special agreements in this regard between this country and Kenya, so the Kenyans do not even have a developed infrastructure in this direction, and along the mountain there are police posts that make sure that there is no unauthorized lifts.

At the same time, the Kilimanjaro territory in Tanzania received the status of a national park and was included in the UNESCO list. Six routes of varying difficulty have been specially developed for tourists, so almost anyone can climb, despite the enormous height; for example, Bernard Gusen, being in a wheelchair, did it twice.

Another positive thing about climbing the mountain is that it can be done lightly: there is a unique service from local residents- for five dollars a day they will carry luggage to the very top, holding it on their heads.

View from the top

Despite the ease of ascent, only 40% of the number of climbers who started the climb reach the top. A magnificent landscape opens up before tourists who climb the mountain: below, under their feet, clouds are visible, and around the volcano, illuminated by the gentle rays of the bright daylight, lies a huge savannah, golden desert sands and nature untouched by people.