Turkana lake

Turkana lake Rudolfsee
Geographical location	Kenya , Ethiopia
Tributaries	Omo , Turkwel , Kerio
Drain	no
Islands	North, Central, South, 4 smaller ones
Data
Coordinates	3 ° 35 '  N , 36 ° 7'  E Coordinates: 3 ° 35 '  N , 36 ° 7'  E
Altitude above sea level	375  m
surface	6th 405  km²
length	268 km
width	50.1 km
volume	204 km³
Maximum depth	73 m
Middle deep	30 m
Catchment area	207,600 km²

The Lake Turkana (even under its previous name Lake Rudolf is known) with 6405 square kilometers, the second largest inland waters of Kenya , the biggest " deserts " - and one of the largest " Endseen " the earth, the northernmost part of 22.7 square kilometers to Ethiopia heard. The Turkana lake is becoming increasingly salinized and its water level is sinking, as the lake with Omo , Turkwel and Kerio has tributaries, but loses more water through evaporation and the mineral salts accumulate (" salinization ").

history

In 1887 the Hungarian explorer Count Teleki reached the lake and named it after Crown Prince Rudolf .

After Kenya gained independence in 1975, the lake was renamed Lake Turkana by the Kenyan government - the Turkana are the largest local ethnic group.

The site of the Nariokotome boy and the first site of a Homo rudolfensis , which was named after the Rudolfsee at that time, are also located near Lake Turkana.There are also the first sites of Turkanapithecus kalakolensis and Afropithecus turkanensis , two extinct species of the Primates that lived around 17 million years ago.

The Turkana parks were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997 . The Sibiloi National Park, which Kenya placed under protection as a national park in 1973, is included in the reserve . Administratively, the lake belongs to the counties of Turkana and Marsabit . In June 2018, UNESCO added the Lake Turkana Parks to its Red List of World Heritage in Danger .

geography

View of the Kenyan part, Central Island at the bottom left

The lake has three larger islands: North, Central and South Island. It lies in the East African Rift , a geological weak zone in the earth's crust on which the African continent is divided. The lake has a maximum north-south length of 250.4 kilometers and a maximum east-west width of 48.8 kilometers. Active volcanoes rise around the lake . The climate in northern Kenya is very arid and the vegetation is therefore very sparse. Grasses predominate, trees are rare.

fauna

The soda water of Lake Turkana is extremely rich in fish and algae . Nile crocodiles live on the banks . The largest predatory fish species are the tiger tetra ( Hydrocynus vittatus ) and the Nile perch ( Lates niloticus ), some of which can weigh over 100 kilograms.

Lake Turkana is inhabited by almost 60 species of fish, nine more occur in its main tributary, the Omo. Endemic in the lake are tetras ferox Brycinus , Brycinus minutus and Citharinus citharus intermedius , the carp fish Enteromius turkanae that danios Neobola jeanneli and stellae Neobola , the catfish Chrysichthys turkana that lampeyes Aplocheilichthys rudolfianus and Aplocheilichthys jeanneli and the cichlids Haplochromis macconneli , Haplochromis rudolfianus , Haplochromis turkanae and Hemichromis exsul . Coptodon zillii was introduced by humans. The largest predatory fish is the giant bass Lates longispinis . The snail Gabbiella neumanni is also endemic . The mussel Caelatura monceti occurs in Lake Victoria as well as in Lake Turkana . Lake Turkana shares the non-endemic species with the Nile and its tributaries, and some carp fish also with the rivers of the Ethiopian highlands and Somalia ( Shabelle and Juba ).

Fishing

Many residents - like their ancestors - live from fishing. The lake supplies about 1000 tons of fish annually; the stocks of the most important edible fish - Nile perch, tilapia and tiger tetra - are declining. In order to keep the catch at the same level, more and more fish species are fished as food fish. The lake is also used by anglers, mainly in Kenya.

Damming of the Omo

In addition to numerous seasonal tributaries, Lake Turkana has only one constant tributary, the Omo . This rises in Ethiopia and feeds around 90 percent of the lake. 600 kilometers upstream, Ethiopia built the Gilgel Gibe III dam by 2016 . When completed, it will be the second largest dam in Africa after the Aswan Dam .

In neighboring northern Kenya, it is feared that the damming of the main tributary could lower the lake's water level by up to 12 meters - which would destroy the livelihoods of the regional population. The corresponding serious ecological consequences could also result in militant conflicts.

However, satellite images show that, contrary to fears, there have been no negative effects at least on the water level of Lake Turkana. Compared to 2014, the last year before the impoundment began, the water level is even slightly higher.

Other sources say, “The water level of the lake (had) dropped 8 meters in the last 20 years.” “Scientists estimate that the dam will reduce the inflow of the surrounding waters into the lake by 70 percent in the foreseeable future, with the effect that the low water level will cause the collapse of ecosystems. "

See also

• Endorheic
• Lake Turkana wind farm

literature

• Klaus HA Jacob: Excursion to the Rudolfsee, with illustrations . In: Die Waage, Zeitschrift der Chemie Grünenthal. Vol. 10, 1971.
• Herbert Tichy : Lake in the Sun - In the footsteps of early humans. Orac, Vienna 1980, ISBN 3-85368-871-3 .
• Mohamed Amin: Lake Turkana, Living Yesterday. With a foreword by Richard Leakey, 1st edition, Landbuch, Hannover 1981, ISBN 3-7842-0248-9 .

Movie

• The Turkana lake. Documentary, USA, Great Britain, France, 2010, 43 min., Director: Richard Kirby, production: arte France, series: Naturparadiese Afrikas, German premiere: January 1, 2012 on arte, film information from arte.

Web links

Commons : Lake Turkana  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
• Horand Knaup: Deadly Progress on Lake Turkana. In: Spiegel Online , June 3, 2012

Individual evidence

1. ^ Source Book - Africa's River Basin Organization
2. ↑ ^{a b} Deutschlandradiokultur.de , Weltzeit , February 19, 2013, Antje Diekhans: No more fear of the drought (April 30, 2016)
3. ↑ UNESCO World Heritage Center: Lake Turkana National Parks (Kenya) inscribed on List of World Heritage in Danger . on whc.unesco.org (English)
4. ↑ Fish Species in Lake Turkana
5. ↑ Species in Lake Turkana
6. ↑ Lates longispinis on Fishbase.org (English)
7. ↑ Petru Bănărescu: Zoogeography of Fresh Waters (= General distribution and dispersal of freshwater animals. Vol. 1). Aula-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-89104-480-1 , p. 1139.
8. ↑ Horand Knaup: Deadly Progress on Lake Turkana , on Spiegel.de , (June 3, 2012)
9. ↑ Landsat. Retrieved April 20, 2016 . 
10. ↑ Jasmina Trifoni: Threatened Treasures of the World, A Journey to Unique Natural Monuments and Natural Wonders , Munich: National Geographic , 2018, p. 80, ISBN 978-3-86690-671-6