Kerimasi Volcano, also known as Kerimasi (Mlima Kerimasi, in Swahili) at 2,602 metres (8,537 ft) is an extinct shield volcano located in Monduli District of Arusha Region in Tanzania. The majority of the mountain lies in Engaruka Ward, and a quarter of it is in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.[1] The volcano is located in the geographic area known as the Crater Highlands and is a shield volcano that last erupted in the Pleistocene.[2]

Kerimasi
Mlima Kerimasi (Swahili)
Kerimasi from the west
Highest point
PeakKerimasi Peak
Elevation2,602 m (8,537 ft)
Coordinates2°52′25.32″S 35°57′10.08″E / 2.8737000°S 35.9528000°E / -2.8737000; 35.9528000
Geography
Map
Country Tanzania
RegionArusha Region
DistrictMonduli District
Geology
Mountain typeShield
Volcanic regionCrater Highlands
Last eruptionPleistocene
Climbing
AccessPublic

Geology and Mineral composition

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Kerimasi, an extinct nephelinite volcano in northern Tanzania's eastern rift valley, emitted carbonatite tephra during its final eruptive phase. The tephra was primarily composed of alkali carbonatite, making it the earliest well-documented example of premodern natrocarbonatite volcanism. The main carbonate mineral was nyerereite, which is also the major mineral in present natrocarbonatite lava flows from the neighboring volcano Oldoinyo Lengai. Kerimasi's nyerereite was leached of its alkalis by meteoric water, and it is currently represented by calcite pseudomorphs.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Global Volcanism Program, 2023. St. Helens (321050) in [Database] Volcanoes of the World (v. 5.0.3; 1 Mar 2023). Distributed by Smithsonian Institution, compiled by Venzke, E. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.VOTW5-2022.5.0
  2. ^ "Smithsonian, Kitumbeine overview". Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  3. ^ Richard L. Hay; Natrocarbonatite tephra of Kerimasi volcano, Tanzania. Geology 1983;; 11 (10): 599–602. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1983)11<599:NTOKVT>2.0.CO;2