The Kilimanjaro stands at about 5,895 meters high above sea level. The Kibo cone has the highest peak called Uhuru. There over 50,000 people that visit giant every year.
Other than having beautiful view from both the bottom and the top, the Kilimanjaro Mountain is one of the best adventures of not only Tanzania but the world.
Some people refer to it as the roof of Africa. The very accurate height of the Kilimanjaro Mountain is 5892.55 meter as of the year 2008.
Hans Meyer was the first person to reach the summit of this mountain.
There are about 1500 active volcanic areas in the world and only about 50 erupt every year. The eruptions are usually about releasing toxic gases in steam ash into the air and later it settles onto the nearby landscape.
On hearing this, one would wonder if it is it is safe to hike the Kilimanjaro Mountain and if it will ever erupt again.
Over 200,000 people have been killed by volcanic activity in the last two centuries and it only fair that you know how safe Kilimanjaro is before you plan your trip here.
When was the last time Kilimanjaro erupted?
It is believed that the Kibo cone was the last of the three to erupt and this happened about 360,000 years ago. There was however some activity around 200,000 years ago.
At this time the highest point of the mountains stood at 19,341 feet above sea level. It is believed that the peak was a bit higher that that but the effects of other natural processes like erosion have affected it.
There is definitely some activity expected on the Kilimanjaro sometime in the future. It is either going to be some eruption or the mountain will collapse under its weight.
There have not been any foreseeable future activity recorded by scientist and it is safe for now.
Eruptions of the Kilimanjaro
It is believed that Mountain Kilimanjaro was formed over 3 million years ago. It was formed by the process of Vulcanicity as molten magma as forced through a vent to from molten rock when it reached the surface which later turned into the Kilimanjaro Mountain.
The mountain erupted several times to make it bigger and that’s the current Kilimanjaro that we see today.
The Kilimanjaro Mountain is made up of three volcanic cones Namely; Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira. Each has its own fault line. With many eruption from over a thousand of years ago, the volcanic power of this cone sis belied to have died out.
The Shira cone, which about 16,000 or 17,000 feet high is believed to have died about 2.5million years ago. It is believed that after its extinction, the cone collapsed to form the current Shira plateau.
The Kibo and Mawenzi cones are believed to have first erupted about 1 million years ago and they formed a ridge between them since they are so close to each other.
It is believed that Mawenzi died about 450,000 years ago. By this time it was at about 18,000 feet above sea level
The Cones Mawenzi and Shira are believed to be completely dead. But the highest peak which is Kibo is believed to just be dormant. It will at some point in time erupt according to research.
There has not even any conclusive evidence of any volcanic activity in recent years. But there is definitely activity that is no conclusive that is going on in the mountain Chambers.
In the year 2003 there was reports of molten magma still flowing but down in the cones at about 400m. Since then, then has not been any noticeable activity.
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