Geological Highlights of East Africa's National Parks, by Roger Scoon

Geological Highlights of East Africa's National Parks: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Virunga Mountains, by Roger Scoon. Penguin Random House South Africa. Imprint: Struik Nature. 2nd edition. Cape Town, South Africa 2022. ISBN 9781775847779 / ISBN 978-1-77-584777-9

Geological Highlights of East Africa's National Parks: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Virunga Mountains, by Roger Scoon. Penguin Random House South Africa. Imprint: Struik Nature. 2nd edition. Cape Town, South Africa 2022. ISBN 9781775847779 / ISBN 978-1-77-584777-9

For anyone planning a safari to the legendary East African game parks and reserves, Geological Highlights of East Africa's National Parks: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Virunga Mountains by Roger Scoon, adds an exciting new dimension.

Preface to Geological Highlights of East Africa's National Parks

The grassy and wooded savannas in the interior or regional plateau of East Africa -an ancient feature underlain by some of the oldest rocks on Earth - contain one of the largest concentrations of wildlife remaining on Earth. Vast herds occupy the mainly open plains of the larger national parks and reserves such as Maasai Mara and Tsavo (Kenya), Serengeti (Tanzania) and Murchison Falls and Queen Elizabeth (Uganda). Other parks reveal iconic landforms and specialised ecosystems related to one of the most recognisable geological terrains on Earth, the East African Rift System. Some of the faults and volcanoes in this relatively recent landscape remain active. Soda lakes in the rift valleys, such as lakes Nakuru (Kenya) and Natron (Tanzania), contain flocks of flamingos so numerous as to change the colour of shorelines. The higher rift shoulders include volcanic plateaus and cones covered by Afromontane forests, such as the Aberdare (Kenya), Gombe Stream (Tanzania) and Mount Elgon (Uganda) national parks. The forests support a diversity of primates, including the Eastern chimpanzee, and in some instances reveal melanistic variants of large mammals. Some volcanic cones constitute freestanding mountains, including the two highest summits, the iconic Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya; both bear small icefields and glaciers despite their equatorial setting. Small glaciers also occur on the summits of the Rwenzori Mountains (Uganda), historically known as the 'Mountains of the Moon7. The Virunga Mountains are a chain of coalesced volcanic cones where the Volcanoes (Rwanda), Mgahinga Gorilla (Uganda) and Virunga (DRC) national parks offer sanctuary to the Mountain gorilla. The active and hazardous Nyiragongo Volcano near the city of Goma (DRC) occurs at the western extremity of the Virunga range. Other potentially hazardous volcanoes in East Africa include Mount Meru in the Arusha NP (Tanzania), and Longonot and the Olkaria Volcanic Complex, which occur in the Mount Longonot and Hell's Gate national parks (Kenya), respectively. Landforms and geology have considerable influence on the distribution and evolution of flora and fauna - not least in East Africa. Here, evidence exists of rapid and diverse speciation patterns during the last 30 million years, linked to a combination of the active regional geology and climatic cycles. The volcanic uplands may supply underground water to otherwise arid plains, and recently erupted volcanic ashes have influenced the migration of several million ungulates on the Serengeti Plains. Palaeo-anthropological sites, including Oldupai Gorge and Laetoli on the Serengeti Plains, and Koobi Fora near Lake Turkana (Kenya), have yielded significant fossil evidence of early hominins. The national parks and reserves of East Africa have much to offer in the way of geological tourism. Most of the landforms and geological features described here can be observed and interpreted by visitors to the more than 70 national parks, game reserves and sanctuaries covered. This guide reveals to travellers - both actual and armchair - the most fascinating and impressive features of the region. It also constitutes a useful reference text for the guides and rangers who are such an integral part of experiencing an East African safari. [...]

This is an excerpt from Geological Highlights of East Africa's National Parks: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Virunga Mountains, by Roger Scoon.

Title: Geological Highlights of East Africa's National Parks
Subtitle: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Virunga Mountains
Author: Roger Scoon
Maps: Lyn Whitfield
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Imprint: Struik Nature
2nd edition. Cape Town, South Africa 2022
ISBN 9781775847779 / ISBN 978-1-77-584777-9
Softcover, 17 x 23 cm, 279 pages, throughout colour photos, images and maps

Scoon, Roger im Namibiana-Buchangebot

Geological Highlights of East Africa's National Parks

Geological Highlights of East Africa's National Parks

Geological Highlights of East Africa's National Parks: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Virunga Mountains.