Global Volcanism Program | Lake Turkana Central Island

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports for Lake Turkana Central Island.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Lake Turkana Central Island.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Lake Turkana Central Island.

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Synonyms

Craters

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Bird Nest Island

Crater

Broken Island

Crater

Bug Island

Crater

Chain of Craters

Crater

Crocodile Lake

Crater

Dry Crater

Crater

Flamingo Lake

Crater

Tilapia Lake

Crater

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

222010

Unknown - Evidence Credible

518 m / 1699 ft

3.496°N
36.0365°E

Volcano Morphology

Primary Landform
Minor (Basaltic)

Volcano Types
Tuff cone(s)
Tuff ring(s)

Rock Types

Major
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Trachyandesite / Basaltic Trachyandesite
Trachyte / Trachydacite

Tectonic Setting

Rift zone
Continental crust (> 25 km)

Population

Within 5 km
Within 10 km
Within 30 km
Within 100 km

28
28
10,253
216,485

Geological Summary

Central Island in the middle of Lake Turkana, also known as Crocodile Island, is composed of more than a dozen craters and cones, three of which are filled by small lakes. The two largest lakes partially fill craters up to 1 km wide and about 80 m deep. An E-W chain of small explosion craters cuts the E side of the 3-km-wide island. Several small islands to the SE represent partially submerged crater rims, and other cones and lava plugs lie beneath the lake surface near the island. The youngest tuffs and lavas may be as young as Holocene (Karson and Curtis, 1992). Fumarolic activity is concentrated along the NE-to-SE rim of the central crater, and sprays of sulfur from the fumaroles were observed by visitors in the 1930s. In 1974 intense emission of molten sulfur and steam clouds were seen from the mainland.

This volcano is located within the Lake Turkana National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage property.

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

Bloomer S H, Curtis P C, Karson J A, 1989. Geochemical variation of Quaternary basaltic volcanoes in the Turkana Rift, northern Kenya. J African Earth Sci, 8: 511-532.

Dunkley P N, Smith M, Allen D A, Darling W G, 1993. The geothermal activity and geology of the northern sector of the Kenya Rift Valley. Brit Geol Surv Res Rpt, SC/93/1: 1-185.

Ferguson A J D, Harbott B J, 1982. Geographical, physical and chemical aspects of Lake Turkana. In: Hopson A J (ed) Lake Turkana: a Report on the Findings of the Lake Turkana Project 1972-75, London: Rpt Overseas Devel Admin, p 1-107.

Karson J A, Curtis P C, 1994. Axial Quaternary volcanic centers in the Turkana rift, N. Kenya. J African Earth Sci, 18: 15-35.

Richard J J, Neumann van Padang M, 1957. Africa and the Red Sea. Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World and Solfatara Fields, Rome: IAVCEI 4: 1-118.

Wilkinson A F, 1988. Geology of the Allia Bay area. Rpt Mines Geol Dept Kenya, 109: 1-54.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 0 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

[ 1974 Jul 22 (?) - 1974 Jul 27 ± 1 days ] Uncertain Eruption

Episode 1 | Eruption Episode

East side of Central Island

1974 Jul 22 (?) - 1974 Jul 27 ± 1 days

Evidence from Unknown

List of 3 Events for Episode 1 at East side of Central Island

Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
- - - -	- - - -	Phreatic activity	Uncertain
- - - -	- - - -	Fumarolic or Solfataric
1974 Jul 22 (?)	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Lake Turkana Central Island.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Lake Turkana Central Island.

Photo Gallery

A compound lake-filled crater occupies the SW side of Central Island in the middle of Lake Turkana. A small young crater (left central) cuts the northern rim of the tuff ring, and another large crater lies behind it. These lakes partially fill craters up to 1 km wide and about 80 m deep, with the floors near sea level. The small islands (upper right) south of Central Island are part of the volcanic complex, and other cones lie beneath the lake surface.

Photo by Martin Smith, 1993 (copyright British Geological Survey, NERC).

GVP Map Holdings

Maps are not currently available due to technical issues.

The maps shown below have been scanned from the GVP map archives and include the volcano on this page. Clicking on the small images will load the full 300 dpi map. Very small-scale maps (such as world maps) are not included.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Lake Turkana Central Island in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites

Copernicus Browser

The Copernicus Browser replaced the Sentinel Hub Playground browser in 2023, to provide access to Earth observation archives from the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, the main distribution platform for data from the EU Copernicus missions.

MIROVA

Middle InfraRed Observation of Volcanic Activity (MIROVA) is a near real time volcanic hot-spot detection system based on the analysis of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data. In particular, MIROVA uses the Middle InfraRed Radiation (MIR), measured over target volcanoes, in order to detect, locate and measure the heat radiation sourced from volcanic activity.

MODVOLC Thermal Alerts

Using infrared satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, scientists at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i, developed an automated system called MODVOLC to map thermal hot-spots in near real time. For each MODIS image, the algorithm automatically scans each 1 km pixel within it to check for high-temperature hot-spots. When one is found the date, time, location, and intensity are recorded. MODIS looks at every square km of the Earth every 48 hours, once during the day and once during the night, and the presence of two MODIS sensors in space allows at least four hot-spot observations every two days. Each day updated global maps are compiled to display the locations of all hot spots detected in the previous 24 hours. There is a drop-down list with volcano names which allow users to 'zoom-in' and examine the distribution of hot-spots at a variety of spatial scales.

WOVOdat
   Single Volcano View
   Temporal Evolution of Unrest
   Side by Side Volcanoes

WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

GVMID Data on Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure The Global Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure Database GVMID, is aimed at documenting and improving capabilities of volcano monitoring from the ground and space. GVMID should provide a snapshot and baseline view of the techniques and instrumentation that are in place at various volcanoes, which can be use by volcano observatories as reference to setup new monitoring system or improving networks at a specific volcano. These data will allow identification of what monitoring gaps exist, which can be then targeted by remote sensing infrastructure and future instrument deployments.

Volcanic Hazard Maps

The IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic Hazards and Risk has a Volcanic Hazard Maps database designed to serve as a resource for hazard mappers (or other interested parties) to explore how common issues in hazard map development have been addressed at different volcanoes, in different countries, for different hazards, and for different intended audiences. In addition to the comprehensive, searchable Volcanic Hazard Maps Database, this website contains information about diversity of volcanic hazard maps, illustrated using examples from the database. This site is for educational purposes related to volcanic hazard maps. Hazard maps found on this website should not be used for emergency purposes. For the most recent, official hazard map for a particular volcano, please seek out the proper institutional authorities on the matter.

IRIS seismic stations/networks

Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services map showing the location of seismic stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 0.18° (about 20 km at mid-latitudes) from the given location of Lake Turkana Central Island. Users can customize a variety of filters and options in the left panel. Note that if there are no stations are known the map will default to show the entire world with a "No data matched request" error notice.

UNAVCO GPS/GNSS stations

Geodetic Data Services map from UNAVCO showing the location of GPS/GNSS stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 20 km from the given location of Lake Turkana Central Island. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

DECADE Data

The DECADE portal, still in the developmental stage, serves as an example of the proposed interoperability between The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, the Mapping Gas Emissions (MaGa) Database, and the EarthChem Geochemical Portal. The Deep Earth Carbon Degassing (DECADE) initiative seeks to use new and established technologies to determine accurate global fluxes of volcanic CO₂ to the atmosphere, but installing CO₂ monitoring networks on 20 of the world's 150 most actively degassing volcanoes. The group uses related laboratory-based studies (direct gas sampling and analysis, melt inclusions) to provide new data for direct degassing of deep earth carbon to the atmosphere.

Large Eruptions of Lake Turkana Central Island

Information about large Quaternary eruptions (VEI >= 4) is cataloged in the Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE) database of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

EarthChem

EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).