East African lakes, group of lakes located in East Africa. The majority of the East African lakes lie within the East African Rift System, which forms a part of a series of massive fissures in the Earth’s crust extending northward from the Zambezi River valley through eastern and northeastern Africa and the Red Sea to the Jordan River valley in southwestern Asia. In East Africa itself the southern, eastern, and western branches of the system can be discerned.
Occupying the Southern Rift Valley is Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi), which drains into the Zambezi River. Marking the course of the Western Rift Valley are Lakes Tanganyika, Kivu, Edward, and Albert—the first two of which are situated within the drainage basin of the Congo River, while the other two constitute part of the Nile River drainage system. With the exception of Lake Rudolf (Lake Turkana), the lakes found in the Eastern (Great) Rift Valley are smaller than those of the Western Rift and constitute several independent inland drainage basins.
Located in a shallow downwarping between the Eastern and Western Rift highlands is Lake Victoria, which among the freshwater lakes of the world has a surface area that is second only to that of Lake Superior in North America. On a smaller scale, East Africa also includes some fine examples of crater lakes, and on Mount Kenya and in the Ruwenzori (Rwenzori) Range are found glacial tarns, small lakes each of which occupies a basin, or cirque, scraped out by a mountain glacier.
Of the eight largest lakes—Victoria (26,828 square miles [69,485 square km] in area), Tanganyika (about 12,700 square miles [32,900 square km]), Nyasa (11,430 square miles [29,600 square km]), Rudolf (2,473 square miles [6,405 square km]), Albert (2,160 square miles [5,594 square km]), Kivu (1,040 square miles [2,693 square km]), Rukwa (1,000 square miles [2,590 square km]), and Edward (830 square miles [2,150 square km])—only one, Rukwa, in Tanzania, lies wholly within a single political entity. The northern shore of Kenya’s Lake Rudolf is in Ethiopia; Lake Victoria is divided among Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya. In the west the international boundary between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo runs through the centre of Lake Albert; the same boundary places two-thirds of Lake Edward in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the remainder in Uganda. Lake Kivu lies between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the waters of Lake Tanganyika are shared by Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Zambia. Malawi and Mozambique have territorial waters on Lake Nyasa, and since its independence Tanzania has also advanced claims to its territorial waters because it also occupies a part of the lakeshore.
The surface levels of the lakes on the irregular floor of the Eastern Rift Valley are of varying heights, rising from Lake Rudolf (1,230 feet [375 metres] above sea level) through Lake Baringo (3,200 feet [975 metres]) to Lake Naivasha (6,180 feet [1,880 metres]), after which there is a decrease in height to Lake Magadi (1,900 feet [580 metres]). The Omo River from the Ethiopian Plateau is the only perennial affluent of Lake Rudolf, which is the lowest of the major East African lakes. Although it has the typical elongated form of a rift lake, Rudolf is relatively shallow (240 feet [70 metres] at its centre, although it reaches about 400 feet [120 metres] in a small depression at the southern end), as are the other lakes of the Eastern Rift. Its eastern and southern shores are bounded by rocky margins of volcanic origin; the lower western and northern shores are mostly composed of sandy sediments. South of Lake Magadi the splaying continuation of the Eastern Rift into northern Tanzania is indicated by Lakes Natron, Manyara, and Eyasi.
In the Western Rift Valley the northwestern and southeastern shores of Lake Albert are flanked by steep escarpments; wild ravines and fine cascades form a conspicuous feature of these geologically young tectonic (fault-formed) landscapes, the scale being greater on the Democratic Republic of the Congo side than on the Uganda side. There is a considerable lowland area at the northern end of the lake, where, about 20 miles (32 km) below Murchison (Kabalega) Falls, the Victoria Nile enters Lake Albert, to leave almost immediately as the northward-flowing Albert Nile. The southern end of Lake Albert contains an alluvial flat and a papyrus-choked delta formed by the Semliki River, which both carries the outflow from Lake Edward and provides drainage from the rain-soaked Ruwenzori Range.
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Lake Edward, of which the deepest part (367 feet [112 metres]) is in the west under the Congo Escarpment, receives the Rutshuru River as its principal affluent. On the northeast it is connected with Lake George by the 3,000-foot- (915-metre-) wide Kazinga Channel. At an elevation of approximately 3,000 feet above sea level, the surfaces of both lakes are nearly 1,000 feet (300 metres) higher than that of Lake Albert.
Separating the basins of Lake Edward and Lake Kivu are the Virunga Mountains, which thus divide the drainage system of the Nile River from that of the Congo River. With clear water, a broken shoreline, and a mountainous setting, including the relatively recent volcanoes (Nyamulagira and Nyiragongo) of the Virunga Mountains, Lake Kivu possesses outstanding scenic attractions. Its outflow is southward by the turbulent Ruzizi River, which drops more than 2,200 feet (670 metres) on its way to Lake Tanganyika. This latter lake, long and narrow, is second only to Siberia’s Lake Baikal in depth, penetrating at its maximum to 4,710 feet (1,435 metres), which is more than 2,400 feet (730 metres) below sea level. Typical, too, are the flanking escarpments, which often rise sheer from the lake; the only sizable lowland is the lower Ruzizi valley. The drainage of the Malagarasi River system enters Lake Tanganyika about 25 miles (40 km) south of Kigoma, Tanz.; at its southern end, on the frontier with Zambia, the 700-foot (210-metre) Kalambo Falls occur where the Kalambo River tumbles over the escarpment. The overflow to the Lualaba River, a tributary of the Congo, is via the shallow and sometimes obstructed Lukuga River outlet on the western side. To the south and west of Lake Tanganyika’s southernmost extreme is Lake Mweru, situated in northern Zambia.
Lake Victoria, with its quadrilateral shape, relative shallowness (maximum depth of about 260 feet [80 metres]), and an area that is more than twice as great, is quite different from Lake Tanganyika. It is set in a region of erosion surfaces instead of tectonic escarpments and is bounded by a shoreline of considerable variety: on the west a straight cliffed coast gives way to papyrus swamp; headlands and deep indentations mark the intricate northern shores; a major inlet, the Winam (formerly Kavirondo) Bay, is located on the east; and on the southern shores the Speke, Mwanza, and Emin Pasha gulfs lie amid rocky granitic hills. Ukerewe, situated in the southeast, is the largest island in the lake; in the northwest the Sese Islands constitute a major archipelago. At the entrance to the channel leading to Jinja, Ugan., lies Buvuma Island. There are numerous other islands, most being of ironstone formation overlying quartzite and crystalline schists. The Kagera River, largest of the affluents, may be considered the most remote headstream of the Nile. The outlet of the lake and the conventional source of the Nile is at Jinja, where, after flowing over the now-submerged Ripon Falls, the Victoria Nile begins its journey toward the Mediterranean Sea through the sluices of the Nalubaale and Kiira dams at Owen Falls.
Lake Rukwa is situated in a northwest-southeast-trending side rift, parallel with the southern part of the Lake Tanganyika rift and continuing the structural alignment of the northern end of Lake Nyasa. Rukwa lies on flat alluvium (soil, gravel, sand, and stone deposited by running water) and is extremely shallow (20 feet [6 metres] at the greatest depth); any change of surface level causes great fluctuations in its area. Southeast of Lake Rukwa, beyond the volcanic mass of Rungwe Mountain, Lake Nyasa, third in size among the East African lakes, has the same characteristics as Lake Tanganyika but in less-extreme form. It is deepest in the north (2,310 feet [704 metres]), where on the Tanzanian side the Livingstone Mountains rise precipitously from the lake surface. In the northwest, however, there is a well-defined alluvial plain. From the east come the waters of the Ruhuhu River, and numerous streams flow across the Malawi Plateau to the western shore. In the shallower southern part there are several lake plains and sandy beaches. The Shire River outlet at the southernmost end has an extremely small gradient in its upper section, but in its middle course the river is interrupted by cataracts before emptying into the Zambezi. Other lakes in the region include Lakes Chilwa, Chiuta, and Phalombe, in southern Malawi.
Geology, climate, and hydrology
The East African rifts attained their present form mainly as a result of earth movements during the Pleistocene Epoch (about 2,600,000 to 11,700 years ago), and the lakes must have been formed after the landscapes in which they are set. The shallowness of such lakes as Albert (maximum recorded depth 190 feet [58 metres]) and Edward (367 feet [112 metres]) is the result of the thick layers of sediment upon which they rest. In some lakes too, volcanic activity has played a part in blocking drainage and shaping shorelines. Raised beaches indicate that the lake levels were higher and their surfaces were more extensive during rainy phases of the Pleistocene Epoch. In the Eastern Rift, for instance, Lakes Rudolf and Baringo were formerly part of one lake, from which there was a link via the Sobat River with the White Nile. Subsequent drier conditions caused the eastern lakes gradually to dwindle in size, with many fluctuations, to their present independent status.
The lakes of the Western Rift have experienced their own geologic changes. Before the geologically recent blocking of the rift by the eruption of the Virunga Mountains, the drainage of Lake Kivu was probably northward into the Nile. The fossil record suggests that the organic content of Lakes Edward and George was considerably reduced during a period of intense volcanic activity around their shores, although several species of fish (such as Tilapia nilotica) appear to have survived. About 100,000 years ago, when the rise in the shoulders of the Western Rift resulted in the reversal of the westward-flowing drainage of such rivers as the Kagera, Katonga, and Kyoga-Kafu, Lakes Victoria and Kyoga were formed by water diverted from the northern section of the rift. Eventually, however, the drainage of most of Uganda returned to the Western Rift and to the Nile. The subsequent reductions in the level of Lake Victoria are indicated by a series of strandlines around its shores.
Those East African lakes that lie in inland troughs at altitudes of about 2,000 feet (610 metres) or less have a hot, dry climatic environment with a high potential evaporation. In the higher parts of the rift floors, however, climatic conditions approach those of the flanking highlands. In the Western Rift moist air from the Congo basin is a source of the more humid conditions prevailing over Lakes Tanganyika and Kivu. The glacial tarns of Mount Kenya and the Ruwenzori Range are in the frigid zone.
Large lakes tend to create or influence their own climates, and this effect is most marked on the western and northern margins of the immense mass of Lake Victoria. There, in a zone 30 to 50 miles (48 to 80 km) wide, temperatures rarely rise above the low 80s F (high 20s C) or fall below the low 60s F (mid-10s C), and precipitation is well distributed throughout the year. Moreover, annual precipitation is high, being heaviest over the lake and decreasing inland from an average of 50 to 60 inches (1,300 to 1,500 mm) at the lakeshores. At the northern end of Lake Nyasa, annual precipitation of about 120 inches (3,050 mm) results from similar influences reinforced by air convergence caused by the funnel-shaped relief at the head of the lake. Sudden and dangerous storms are likely to arise over the waters of all the major lakes.
The levels of the East African lakes are perceptibly sensitive to climatic fluctuations. Average seasonal ranges of level are small: no more than 1 foot (0.3 metre) on Lake Victoria, 1.3 feet (0.4 km) on Lake Albert, and 3 to 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2 metres) on Lake Nyasa. Longer-term fluctuations, with consequential effects on the shorelines, are greater; during the 20th century the extreme range recorded on Lake Victoria was 10.3 feet (3 metres), compared with 17.3 feet (5 metres) on Lake Albert and 18.8 feet (5.7 metres) on Lake Nyasa. In each case the recorded maximum occurred in the early 1960s. The effects of drought are enhanced in small, shallow lakes: Lake Nakuru, in Kenya, dried up completely in 1939–40; at the end of 1949 Lake Rukwa was estimated at one-fifth its normal size; and Lake Chilwa, in Malawi, suffered a drastic reduction of area in 1967–68.
There is a significant correlation between precipitation and variations in the level of Lake Victoria, and Lakes Kyoga and Albert follow—with an appropriate time lag—the conditions of Lake Victoria. In addition to rainfall, other factors affect the longer-term fluctuations of Lakes Tanganyika and Nyasa. The Lukuga River outlet of Lake Tanganyika tends to become blocked intermittently by silting, consolidated by swampy growth. Similarly, in the flat valley of the upper Shire River, periods of erosion alternate with the building of bars of silt and sand reinforced by reeds. As a result, between 1915 and 1935 there was virtually no outflow from Lake Nyasa.
Many of the lakes, especially those in the Eastern Rift, are brackish, but Baringo and Naivasha are exceptions in that they are freshwater lakes and are believed to have subterranean outlets. At the other extreme of salinity, Magadi is a soda lake, in which the continuing source of sodium carbonate (natron) appears to be alkaline waters of deep-seated origin. Lakes Edward and George have the highest salinities among the lakes of the Western Rift, but the alkalinity is not excessive. The problem of the deeper lakes, such as Tanganyika, Nyasa, and Kivu, is that their deeper waters are permanently deoxygenated and thus constitute a biological desert: three-fourths of the volume of Lake Tanganyika and 99 percent of that of Kivu are within this category. Moreover, all three lakes contain lethal amounts of hydrogen sulfide in their deeper waters, and Lake Kivu also contains vast quantities of methane.
Plant and animal life
The vegetation setting of the lakes varies from the semidesert, in which Lake Rudolf is situated, to the patches of closed evergreen forest on the western and northern shores of Lake Victoria. Between the two extremes and in accordance with the position of the individual lakes, bushland and thicket, grassland, savanna, or open woodland occur. The oil palm, which is characteristic of western Africa and of the Congo region, is found on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Heavily populated and intensively cultivated areas marginal to Lakes Victoria and Nyasa present vegetation types that have been much modified by human activity. The lakeshores may consist of open landscapes of headland or beach or may contain plants associated with swamps, such as the giant sedge, Cyperus papyrus, which is the most prevalent.
Among the main genera of fish in the East African lakes are the mouthbreeders Tilapia, much the most important in number of species and in total quantity; Haplochromis (which, like the Tilapia, belong to the Cichlidae family), a group of small perchlike fish; Clarias (barbel) and Bagrus among the catfish; Hydrocynus (tiger fish); various carps, including Labeo, Barilius, and Barbus; Protopterus, a lungfish; Mormyrus, a member of the elephant-snout fish family; and Stolothrissa tanganicae (dagaa), a small sardinelike fish.
The more strongly saline lakes, such as Nakuru, Elmenteita, Manyara, and, above all, Magadi and Natron, have a severely limited fish life. Lake Kivu also has a fish population that is neither varied nor abundant. Although fish are present in enormous quantities in Lake Rukwa, the number of species is not large, and the stock is dominated by the endemic Tilapia rukwaensis. Successive droughts such as that of 1949 explain why there are so few species in Lake Rukwa; the years immediately following 1949, on the other hand, provide an excellent example of the amazing recovery powers of tropical fish populations.
The majority of the lakes, though, have a rich and varied fish life, of which a high proportion of species are endemic to the individual lake. The Cichlidae, for example, are especially prone to form new species, and there are between 100 and 200 species of the family in Lakes Victoria and Kyoga.
Lake Albert has a fish life that is related to that of the Nile; it includes Nile perch, tiger fish, and Polypterus (bichir). The physical barrier of Murchison Falls, situated near the northern end of Lake Albert, marks the frontier of a separate faunal province formed by Lakes Victoria and Kyoga. Several of the Lake Albert genera are not found in these two lakes, which contain many unique species. Similarly, the rapids on the Semliki River have prevented the introduction of fish species from Lake Albert into Lakes Edward and George, which otherwise are particularly rich in fish. On the other hand, the presence of Nile perch, tiger fish, and bichir in Lake Rudolf serves to indicate its former connection with the Nile. The transplantation of fish by humans, however, has caused a man-made zoogeographic revolution, the full effects of which cannot yet be discerned.
The hippopotamus is ubiquitous around the lakeshores, except those of Lake Kivu; the crocodile is also widespread, although absent from Lakes Edward, George, and Kivu, each of which is sheltered from the spread of this reptile by falls in the outflow river, with cool mountain torrents and sunless forest as additional deterrents. Traditionally there has been an inverse relationship between the density of game and that of human settlement. The establishment of national parks and game reserves, however, has encouraged the increase of game population, although widespread poaching has created serious problems. Among the variety of game to be seen in the neighbourhood of the lakes are elephant, buffalo, and various antelopes.
Among the resident and migrant birds in evidence, waterfowl are especially noticeable. Several of the Eastern Rift lakes—such as Nakuru, Elmenteita, and Manyara—have historically been famous for their vast congregations of flamingos. Forming the basis of a national park in which the emphasis is on aquatic birds, Lake Nakuru is an ornithologist’s paradise; Lake Edward and the Kazinga Channel are also notably rich in birdlife. The fish-eating birds—cormorants, darters, and kingfishers—are also part of the ecology of the lakes.