The Chalbi Desert is a small desert in northern Kenya near the border with Ethiopia. It is east of Lake Turkana and contains North Horr. Marsabit is the closest major urban center.
The Chalbi Desert is a small desert in northern Kenya near the border with Ethiopia. It is east of Lake Turkana and contains North Horr. Marsabit is the closest major urban center.
In the language of the Gabbra people, Chalbi means "bare, salty area". [1]
The Chalbi Desert is located in between Mount Marsabit and Lake Turkana. [1] [2] The area is 110 km long and 10 to 20 km wide and it extends over 1,000 km2. [3]
The area is composed of an ancient lake-bed, rocky surface and lava regions. [4] The ancient lake-bed of Chalbi used to be a shallow lake around 10,000 to 11,000 years ago. [5] The lava hills provide some altitudinal change in an otherwise plain region. [6] The ground is a combination of dried mud and salt. When it rains, the ground becomes a soft, sticky surface. [1]
Chalbi desert has been recognized as an important geosite of Kenya. The preserved fossils of the area have been critical to the understanding of the Quaternary climate in East Africa. These fossils include aquatic animals like the Nile perch. [4] It is also a site of the mineral eugsterite. [7]
Chalbi is a rain-shadow desert. [3] Mean annual rainfall is approximately 150 millimetres or 6 inches (or up to 350 millimetres or 14 inches [4] ). Rainfall is erratic and in some years the area barely receives any rainfall at all. [3] [4] In 1973, for example, only 7 millimetres or 0.3 inches of rainfall were recorded. [1] Meanwhile, the potential evaporation likely is over 2,600 millimetres or 100 inches. [3] At the edge of the desert, there are numerous springs, [8] which create oases of water and grasses. [9]
Occasionally, rain falls as a heavy downpour, and the water runs off through the hard desert surface and pools at surface depressions. In years of exceptional rainfall, a temporary lake is formed that can last several months. [1] This happened during 1978, for example, when a temporary lake of 50 centimetres or 1 foot 8 inches in depth was formed long enough for waterfowl to make use of it. [1]
The Chalbi desert sustains high winds. In fact, the area has some of the strongest and most sustained wind systems of the world. The area sustains for over 50 days per years wind speeds of over 50 kilometres per hour (14 m/s; 31 mph; 27 kn). [10] Sandstorms are a common feature of the region.
The following herbivores can be found in the region: oryx, African elephant, Somali ostrich, Grevy's zebra, and reticulated giraffe. [1] [4] In the past, black rhinoceros used to live in the area, but they were hunted to extinction. [4] As for the large predator guild, African lions live in the region. [4]
The high salinity makes the area home to only a few plant species. Most of the Chalbi Desert is barren and has no vegetation. [1] One of those areas where plants do grow is usually near outlets of tributary streams after the seasonal rainfalls. Salvadora persica , Acacia tortilis , and Cordia sinensis can grow in the areas around Chalbi's drainage system, [4] [8] but most plants that grow in the desert are annual plants. One of those plants is Drakebrockmania somalensis. [8] During years of high rainfall, these areas can be seen covered by grasses like Aristida adscensionis and A. mutabilis. [4] Another region where some plants grow is in the former lake bed. There, one can find Lagenantha nogalensis. Finally, one can also find plants on the edges of the desert, such as Dasysphaera prostrata or Hyphaene coriacea . [8]
The Gabbra pastoralists live around this area of Kenya. [1] These nomadic people herd goats and cattle, and camels to some extent. [1] [6] A few other pastoralists are also present in the region, such as the Rendille, [4] the Dasanech, or the Turkana. [6]
The largest wind farm in Africa is located in the west edge of the desert. Unfortunately, no benefits from the wind farm have reached the local communities. [4]
The area has seen a rise in desert tourism since the beginning of the 2020s, and is increasingly seen as one of Kenya's new and upcoming tourist destinations. [11] [12]
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for 900,000 square kilometres (350,000 sq mi), covering much of Botswana, as well as parts of Namibia and South Africa.
Mauritania, a country in the Western Region of the continent of Africa, is generally flat, its 1,030,700 square kilometres forming vast, arid plains broken by occasional ridges and clifflike outcroppings. Mauritania is the world’s largest country lying entirely below an altitude of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). It borders the North Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal and Western Sahara, Mali and Algeria. It is considered part of both the Sahel and the Maghreb. A series of scarps face southwest, longitudinally bisecting these plains in the center of the country. The scarps also separate a series of sandstone plateaus, the highest of which is the Adrar Plateau, reaching an elevation of 500 metres or 1,640 feet. Spring-fed oases lie at the foot of some of the scarps. Isolated peaks, often rich in minerals, rise above the plateaus; the smaller peaks are called Guelbs and the larger ones Kedias. The concentric Guelb er Richat is a prominent feature of the north-central region. Kediet ej Jill, near the city of Zouîrât, has an elevation of 915 metres or 3,002 feet and is the highest peak.
Lake Turkana is a saline lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. By volume it is the world's fourth-largest salt lake after the Caspian Sea, Issyk-Kul, and Lake Van, and among all lakes it ranks 24th.
The African Great Lakes are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. The series includes Lake Victoria, the second-largest freshwater lake in the world by area; Lake Tanganyika, the world's second-largest freshwater lake by volume and depth; Lake Malawi, the world's eighth-largest freshwater lake by area; and Lake Turkana, the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. Collectively, they contain 31,000 km3 (7,400 cu mi) of water, which is more than either Lake Baikal or the North American Great Lakes. This total constitutes about 25% of the planet's unfrozen surface fresh water. The large rift lakes of Africa are the ancient home of great biodiversity, and 10% of the world's fish species live in this region.
Rangelands are grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands, and deserts that are grazed by domestic livestock or wild animals. Types of rangelands include tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and shrublands, woodlands, savannas, chaparrals, steppes, and tundras. Rangelands do not include forests lacking grazable understory vegetation, barren desert, farmland, or land covered by solid rock, concrete, or glaciers.
The Eastern Province of Kenya was one of 8 Provinces of Kenya. Its northern boundary ran along with that of Ethiopia; the North Eastern Province and Coast Province lay to the east and south; and the remainder of Kenya's provinces, including Central Province, ran along its western border. The provincial capital was Embu.
Marsabit is a town in the northern Marsabit County in Kenya. It is situated in the former Eastern Province and is almost surrounded by the Marsabit National Park. The town is located 170 kilometres (110 mi) east of the centre of the East African Rift at an elevation of between 1300 and 1400 metres. It serves as the capital of Marsabit County, and lies southeast of the Chalbi Desert in a forested area known for its volcanoes and crater lakes
Lodwar is the largest town in north-western Kenya, located west of Lake Turkana on the A1 road. Its main industries are basket weaving and tourism. The Loima Hills lie to its west. Lodwar is the capital of Turkana County. The town had a population of 82,970 in the 2019 census.
Marsabit County is a county in Kenya, covering a surface area of 66,923.1 square kilometres. Marsabit is the second largest county by size in Kenya after Turkana county which has an area of 71,597.8 km2. Its capital is Marsabit and its largest town is Moyale. According to the 2019 census, the county had a population of 459,785. It is bordered to the North by Ethiopia, to the West by Turkana County to the South by Samburu County and Isiolo County, and to the East by Wajir County.
Turkana County is a county in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya. It is home to the Turkana people. It is Kenya's largest county by land area of 77,597.8 km2 followed by Marsabit County with an area of 66,923.1 km2. It is bordered by the countries of Uganda to the west; South Sudan and Ethiopia, including the disputed Ilemi Triangle, to the north and northeast; and Lake Turkana to the east. To the south and east, neighbouring counties in Kenya are West Pokot, Baringo and Samburu Counties, while Marsabit County is on the opposite shore of Lake Turkana. Turkana's capital and largest town is Lodwar. The county had a population of 926,976 according to the 2019 census report. It is Projected to reach 1.048M people in 2024
Lokori is a Turkana settlement in Kenya's North Eastern Province, adjacent to the Kerio River. The settlement's inhabitants are traditionally pastoralists. Lokori is home to a number of prehistoric Namoratunga rock art and burial sites.
The greater Turkana Basin in East Africa determines a large endorheic basin, a drainage basin with no outflow centered around the north-southwards directed Gregory Rift system in Kenya and southern Ethiopia. The deepest point of the basin is the endorheic Lake Turkana, a brackish soda lake with a very high ecological productivity in the Gregory Rift.
Lake Turkana Wind Power Project (LTWP) is a wind farm in Kenya. It is located in Loiyangalani District, in Marsabit County, approximately 545 kilometres (339 mi) by road north of Nairobi, Kenya's capital city. The wind farm covers 160 square kilometres and has a capacity of 310 MW, enough to supply one million homes. It comprises 365 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 850 kilowatts. The associated overhead electric grid distribution system and a high voltage substation that connect it to the national grid.
Despite its high potential for wind energy generation, wind power in Kenya currently contributes only about 16 percent of the country's total electrical power. However, its share in energy production is increasing. Kenya Vision 2030 aims to generate 2,036 MW of wind power by 2030. To accomplish this goal, Kenya is developing numerous wind power generation centers and continues to rely on the nation's three major wind farms: the Lake Turkana Wind Power Station, the Kipeto Wind Power Station, and the Ngong Hills Wind Farm. While these wind power stations are beneficial to help offset fossil fuel usage and increase overall energy supply reliability in Kenya, project developments have also negatively impacted some indigenous communities and the parts of the environment surrounding the wind farms.
Aiyangiyang is a basin in southern Turkana, Kenya, southeast of Lodwar. It is known by nomadic pastoralists for its seasonal water availability, and is an important archaeological and paleontological site with artifacts and remains from the African Middle and Late Stone Ages.
Karsa is a basalt geological formation, archaeological site, and watering hole in Turkana County, Kenya, on the southeast margin of Lake Turkana. Karsa volcanic flows lie at the base of important sedimentary formations in the Turkana Basin and are an example of columnar jointed basalt.
The Lothagam North Pillar Site, registered as GeJi9, is an archaeological site at Lothagam on the west side of Lake Turkana in Kenya dating to the Pastoral Neolithic and the Holocene. It is a communal cemetery, built between 3000 BCE and 2300 BCE by the region's earliest herders as rainfall in the area decreased and Lake Turkana receded. It is thought to be eastern Africa's largest and earliest monumental cemetery.
The Ethiopia–Kenya border was first identified by the United Kingdom in 1907 and refined in 1947 in the aftermath of the East African Campaign of World War II. When Kenya became independent, it was finally approved in 1970. The border stretches 861 kilometers bounded by Marsabit, Turkana, Wajir and Mandera Counties on the side of Kenya, and Borena and Dhawa Zones in the Ethiopian side. The border features enormous biodiversity and wildlife, most notably, several communities such as Mursi, Nyangatom, Daasanach and Turkana, which are agro-pastoralist in response to harsh climate and erratic weather patterns.
Kargi is a village in Marsabit County, located in the north-eastern portion of Kenya. Its about 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Marsabit, and about 430 kilometres (270 mi) from the country's capital, Nairobi.
The Turkana jet is a low-level, south-easterly wind flowing from Kenya to South Sudan. The jet passes through the Turkana channel between the Ethiopian and East African highlands. It was first presented in scientific literature by Kinuthia and Asnani in 1982 using measurements collected in Marsabit, Kenya. At Marsabit, the wind is strongest around 500–800 m above the ground, and has been known to reach speeds of 50 m/s. There is a variation in jet strength throughout the day, peaking between 00 and 06 UTC. The Lake Turkana Wind Power Station benefits from the semi-permanence of the jet throughout the year.
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