Lake Turkana

Lake Turkana : 

Lake Turkana *Insert dramatic metaphor here*

Location Location Location! : 

Location Location Location!

What’s in a name? : 

What’s in a name? Lake Rudolph, after Austrian Prince in 1888 Jade Sea, due to color of algae Renamed Lake Turkana after Jomo Kenyatta’s revolution

Formation : 

Formation Formed by Great African Rift “Only” several hundred thousand years old Rift is still separating

Central Island : 

Central Island Central Island is the island in the middle of Lake Turkana It has an active volcano 5 km2, but has three lakes: Crocodile,Ffamingo, and Tilapia

The Statistics (Of DOOOOM) : 

The Statistics (Of DOOOOM) Surface area [km2] 6,750 Volume [km3] 203.6 Maximum depth [m] 109 Mean depth [m] 30.2 Water level Unregulated

World Rankings (in volume) : 

World Rankings (in volume) 4th largest salt lake, behind Aral Sea (but catching up, thanks to those Ruskies!) 23th largest overall by volume, bigger than Dead Sea, smaller than Eire (not adjacent in the list) #1, biggest, largest lake in desert climate

Animals : 

Animals Home to crocodiles, scorpions, carpet vipers, & more Lots of fish Lake Turkana National Parks are a World Heritage Site

History : 

History Millions of years ago, proto-humans (Homo habilis) would hide in the bush and wait to scavenge from predators The Turkana, after who the lake was named, are cow-keepers who fiercely resisted British rule More recently, the Kenyan government has gotten angry at the Ethiopian government, which has allegedly dammed the river Omo, causing water level to fall

Bibliography : 

Bibliography Encyclopedia Brittanica Africa:Biography of a Continent, by Jim Reader International Lake Environment Commitee Wikipedia Several images from corbis.com