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61-600: Loiyangalani is a small town located on the southeastern coast of Lake Turkana in Kenya . The town has a population of 5,117. Loiyangalani means "a place of many trees" in the native Samburu tongue. It is home to Rendille and Elmollo People but now has other Kenyan communities like Turkana people, Luo, Meru, and Somali. It was founded near a freshwater spring in the 1960s where the Rendille and El Molo people live. Its main industries include fishing, tourism and gold panning . It

122-541: A nameplate capacity of 850 kilowatts. As of October 2016 155 turbines had been installed with completion expected in 2017. It will be the largest wind power project in Africa. Full commercial operation achieved in March 2019. 100% Capacity Factor (meaning full 310 MW generated) achieved in March 2021. The Gibe III dam is already under construction by Ethiopia along its Omo River, with general recognition that it will cause

183-585: A 1 mm mesh also depends upon whether it is alive or dead at the time of sorting. Mesofauna are macroscopic soil animals such as arthropods or nematodes . Mesofauna are extremely diverse; considering just the springtails ( Collembola ), as of 1998, approximately 6,500 species had been identified. Microfauna are microscopic or very small animals (usually including protozoans and very small animals such as rotifers ). To qualify as microfauna, an organism must exhibit animal-like characteristics, as opposed to microflora , which are more plant-like. Stygofauna

244-437: A 1968 study by Alistair Graham. The lake also has a large population of large water turtles, particularly in the area of Central Island. The Turkana mud turtle is endemic to the lake. Over the dry grasslands ranges a frail population of grazing mammals and predators. The grazers are chiefly Grevy's zebra , Burchell's zebra , the beisa oryx , Grant's gazelle , the topi and the reticulated giraffe . They are hunted by

305-633: A European name. J. W. Gregory reported in The Geographical Journal of 1894 that it was called "Basso Narok", meaning "Black Lake" in the Samburu language . Likewise, the nearby Ethiopian Lake Chew Bahir is called "Basso Naibor" in Samburu, meaning "White Lake". The Samburu are among the dominant tribes in the lake Turkana region when the explorers came." What the native form of this phrase was, what it might mean, and in which language

366-536: A dry riverbed, the Lomekwi 3 site recovered primitive hammers, anvils, and cutting tools.  However, the emergence of Acheulean technology no longer assumes that tool use was a distinguishing factor among Homo species as Australopithecus afarensis were also using simple tools prior to the appearance of the genus Homo , over 3.3 million years ago. Australopithecus anamensis fossils discovered by Meave Leakey in 1994 date to around 4 million years ago, setting

427-468: A few Lodges in the area, the "Oasis Lodge", the "Palmshade Camp", the "Mosaretu Women's Groupe Lodge", and the "Sailo Bandas" all located only a few hundred meters from the airstrip. Loiyangalani Division of Marsabit County is headquartered in Loiyangalani town. The town is sometimes spelled as Loyangalani . Loiyangalani was the setting for John le Carré 's novel The Constant Gardener , and

488-418: A further drop in the lake level.[29] Friends of Lake Turkana, a Kenyan organisation representing indigenous groups in northwestern Kenya whose livelihoods are linked to Lake Turkana, had previously estimated that the dam could reduce the level of Lake Turkana by up to 10 meter affecting up to 300,000 people.[30] This could cause the brackish water to increase in salinity to where it may no longer be drinkable by

549-453: A group of organisms by their size, larger than microfauna but smaller than macrofauna, rather than a taxonomic grouping. One environment for meiofauna is between grains of damp sand (see Mystacocarida ). In practice these are metazoan animals that can pass unharmed through a 0.5–1 mm mesh but will be retained by a 30–45 μm mesh, but the exact dimensions will vary from researcher to researcher. Whether an organism passes through

610-649: A high risk for a magnitude 7 or 8 earthquake in the Gibe III dam region. The magnitude of the impact that the dam and possible irrigation projects induced by the dam will have on the water level of Lake Turkana is controversial. A hydrological study conducted for the African Development Bank in November 2010 concluded that the filling of the dam will reduce the lake's water level by two metres, if no irrigation will be undertaken. Irrigation would cause

671-536: A major decrease in river flow downstream and a serious reduction of inflow to Kenya's Lake Turkana, which receives 90 per cent of its waters from the river. According to the ARWG [citation needed] report, these changes will destroy the survival means of at least 200,000 pastoralists, flood-dependent agriculturalists and fishers along the Omo River 300,000 pastoralists and fishers around the shores of Lake Turkana – plunging

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732-564: A profound influence on the level of Lake Turkana and adjacent water bodies. The archaeoastronomical site Namoratunga which has been dated circa 300 BC is located near Lake Turkana. Hominin fossils of some of the earliest human ancestors have been found in the Turkana Basin. Lake Turkana is considered the cradle of human life because of the diverse hominid species found living millions of years apart, in this desert landscape.  These fossils have facilitated our understanding of

793-531: Is a popular tourist destination in Northern Kenya, as the surrounding El Molo and Turkana villages offer unique (although somewhat commercialized) experiences. In June 2008, the 1st Cultural Festival took place at Loiyangalani and united all tribes of the Lake in celebration for one weekend. The town is home to an airstrip and lies near Mount Kulal (50 km), known for its forest and stones. There are

854-408: Is any fauna that lives in groundwater systems or aquifers, such as caves , fissures and vugs . Stygofauna and troglofauna are the two types of subterranean fauna (based on life-history). Both are associated with subterranean environments – stygofauna is associated with water, and troglofauna with caves and spaces above the water table . Stygofauna can live within freshwater aquifers and within

915-494: Is associated with caves and spaces above the water table and stygofauna with water. Troglofaunal species include spiders , insects , myriapods and others. Some troglofauna live permanently underground and cannot survive outside the cave environment. Troglofauna adaptations and characteristics include a heightened sense of hearing, touch and smell. Loss of under-used senses is apparent in the lack of pigmentation as well as eyesight in most troglofauna. Troglofauna insects may exhibit

976-401: Is hot and very dry. The rocks of the surrounding area are predominantly volcanic . Central Island is an active volcano, emitting vapour. Outcrops and rocky shores are found on the east and south shores of the lake, while dunes, spits and flats are on the west and north, at a lower elevation. On-shore and off-shore winds can be extremely strong, as the lake warms and cools more slowly than

1037-452: Is not clear. The major biomes are the lake itself, which is an aquatic biome, and the surrounding region, which is classified as desert and xeric shrubland . The Chalbi Desert is east of the lake. During moister times, a dry grassland appears, featuring Aristida adcensionis and A. mutabilis . During drier times, the grass disappears. The shrublands contain dwarf shrubs, such as Duosperma eremophilum and Indigofera spinosa . Near

1098-463: Is rich in fish and fishing is very important to the local economy, but this is threatened by falling water levels and overfishing . Lake Turkana National Parks are now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Sibiloi National Park lies on the lake's eastern shore, while Central Island National Park and South Island National Park lie in the lake. Both are known for their Nile crocodiles. An abundance of hominid fossils have been discovered in

1159-406: Is sensitive to climatic and seasonal fluctuations. For purposes of comparison, the historic level of Lake Turkana declined from a high of 20m above today's level in the 1890s to the same level as today in the 1940s and 1950s. Then it increased again gradually by 7 metres to reach a peak around 1980, and subsequently decreased again.[31] The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) summary of

1220-661: Is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake . By volume it is the world's fourth-largest salt lake after the Caspian Sea , Issyk-Kul , and Lake Van (passing the shrinking South Aral Sea ), and among all lakes it ranks 24th. Lake Turkana is now threatened by the construction of the Gilgel Gibe III Dam in Ethiopia due to the damming of the Omo river which supplies most of

1281-677: The Turkana Basin . The highest is 100 m above the surface of the lake (only approximate, as the lake level fluctuates), which occurred about 9500 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene as part of the African humid period . It is generally theorised that Turkana was part of the upper Nile system at that time, connecting to Lake Baringo at the southern end and the White Nile in the north, and that volcanic land adjustments severed

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1342-495: The little stint , the wood sandpiper , and the common sandpiper . The African skimmer ( Rhyncops flavirostris ) nests in the banks of Central Island. The white-breasted cormorant ( Phalacrocorax lucidus ) ranges over the lake, as do many other waterbirds. The greater flamingo wades in its shallows. Heuglin's bustard ( Neotis heuglinii ) is found in the east of the lake region. The lake formerly contained Africa's largest population of Nile crocodiles : 14,000, as estimated in

1403-574: The mantle , began separating from the rest of Africa, moving to the northeast. Currently, the graben is 320 km wide in the north of the lake, 170 km in the south. This rift is one of two, and is called the Great or Eastern Rift. There is another to the west, the Western Rift. Lake Turkana is a unique feature of the East African landscape. Besides being a permanent desert lake, it is

1464-520: The pore spaces of limestone , calcrete or laterite , whilst larger animals can be found in cave waters and wells. Stygofaunal animals, like troglofauna, are divided into three groups based on their life history - stygophiles, stygoxenes, and stygobites. Troglofauna are small cave -dwelling animals that have adapted to their dark surroundings. Troglofauna and stygofauna are the two types of subterranean fauna (based on life-history). Both are associated with subterranean environments – troglofauna

1525-607: The area around Lake Turkana, which is evidence for numerous migrations of diverse people over thousands of years. The current language groups include at least three separate subgroups of the Nilotic ( Nilo-Saharan ) and Cushitic ( Afro-Asiatic ) language families, which have further subdivided into more than 12 languages surrounding the lake today. In the early Holocene (during the Holocene Climatic Optimum ), lake levels were high and fishing and foraging were

1586-549: The area surrounding Lake Turkana. The area still sees few visitors, being two days' drive from Nairobi . The lake is also an imaginary boundary of the Rendille and Borana and Oromo to the Turkana land. The area is primarily clay-based and is more alkaline than seawater. After the independence of Kenya , the president, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta , renamed it in 1975 after the Turkana , the predominant tribe there. The Turkana refer to

1647-403: The beginning date of bipedalism back half a million years. Richard Leakey has led numerous anthropological expeditions in the area which have led to many important discoveries of hominin remains. The two-million-year-old skull 1470 was found in 1972. It was originally thought to be Homo habilis , but the scientific name Homo rudolfensis , derived from the old name of this lake (Rudolf)

1708-520: The cichlids Haplochromis macconneli , H. rudolfianus , H. turkanae and Hemichromis exsul , the barb Enteromius turkanae , the catfish Chrysichthys turkana , the robber tetras Brycinus ferox and B. minutus , the Rudolf lates Lates longispinis , the lampeyes Lacustricola jeanneli and Micropanchax rudolfianus , and the cyprinid Neobola stellae . Non-endemics include species such as Nile tilapia , mango tilapia , bichirs ,

1769-515: The colonial period of British East Africa . However, the existence of the lake and its shape and location were well known in Europe long before Teleki conceived of his visit. At some unknown time, the lake acquired an alternative name as the Jade Sea from its turquoise colour seen approaching from a distance. The colour comes from algae that rise to the surface in calm weather. This is likely also

1830-632: The connection. Such a hypothesis explains the Nile species in the lake, such as the crocodiles and the Nile perch. High water levels also occurred approximately 9000, 6000 and 5000 years ago, each of which were followed by drops in lake level of more than 40m in less than 200 years. It is thought that changes in the position of the Congo Air Boundary affected the ability of moisture from the Atlantic Ocean to reach eastern Africa, which had

1891-436: The dynamic human evolution process and implies that they descended from more than one common ancestor, diverging into multiple lineages. The changing forest environment forced the early humans to adapt to a more open grassland that increased their exposure to threatening predators. Volcanic ash and drier climates were ideal for preserving these human fossils but it also caused the lake to shrink or disappear at times.  In

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1952-562: The eastern shore at the Nataruk Site, this region provides considerable insight to the way these early humans thrived and survived the inconsistent climate along the lake shore and beyond.   Homo erectus is the closest of Homo sapiens ' ancestors and contended to be the first hominin to cross the Levantine corridor out of Africa, into Europe and Asia 1.8 million years ago.   Many language groups are represented in

2013-538: The elephantfish Mormyrus kannume , African arowana , African knifefish , Distichodus niloticus , the Nile perch and numerous others. During the early Holocene , the water level of the lake was higher, and it overflowed into the Nile River, allowing fish and crocodiles access. Consequently, the non-endemic fishes in the lake are mainly riverine species of Nilotic origin. Some of the non-endemics do not breed in

2074-577: The firm that builds the dam this would reduce the water level in the lake by "less than 50 cm per year for three years" and that salinity "will not change in any way".[26] According to the International Lake Environment Committee, 90% of Lake Turkana's water is delivered by the Omo River on which the Dam would be built.[31] With no outlet, Lake Turkana loses 2.3 meters of water every year to evaporation, and its level

2135-407: The fossil record and include lingulata , trilobites and worms . They made burrows in the sediment as protection and may also have fed upon detritus or the mat of microbes which tended to grow on the surface of the sediment. Today, a variety of organisms live in and disturb the sediment . The deepest burrowers are the ghost shrimps ( Thalassinidea ), which go as deep as 3 metres (10 ft) into

2196-441: The indigenous groups around the lake. Currently, the salinity of the water is about 2332 mg/L, and it is estimated that a 10-meter decrease in the water level of Lake Turkana could cause the salinity to rise to 3397 mg/L.[20] Raising salinity could also drastically reduce the number of fish in the lake, which the people around Lake Turkana depend on for sustenance and their livelihoods. According to critics, this "will condemn

2257-569: The lake are doum palms . Both phytoplankton and zooplankton are found in the lake. Of the former, cyanobacteria are represented by Microcystis aeruginosa and microalgae by Botryococcus braunii . Also present are Anabaenopsis arnoldii , Planctonema lauterbornii , Oocystis gigas , Sphaerocystis schroeteri , and some others. The zooplankton includes copepods , cladocerans and protozoans . Compared to other large African lakes, Turkana has relatively few fish species. The lake holds about 50 fish species, including 12 endemics :

2318-429: The lake as Anam Ka'alakol , meaning "the sea of many fish". It is from the name Ka'alakol that Kalokol , a town on the western shore of Lake Turkana, east of Lodwar , derives its name. The previous indigenous Turkana name for Lake Turkana was Anam a Cheper . Natives who live around Lake Turkana include the Turkana , Rendille , Gabbra , Daasanach , Hamar Koke, Karo, Nyagatom, Mursi , Surma , and Molo peoples. For

2379-418: The lake to a not-so-slow death."[9] According to dam proponents, the impact on Lake Turkana will be limited to the temporary reduction in flows during the filling of the reservoir. Various sources state that the filling could take between one and three wet seasons.[9][26] The total storage volume of the reservoir of Gibe III dam will be between 11.75 and 14 billion cubic meter, depending on sources. According to

2440-525: The lake's water. Although the lake commonly has been—and to some degree still is—used for drinking water, its salinity (slightly brackish ) and very high levels of fluoride (much higher than in fluoridated water ) generally make it unsuitable, and it has also been a source of diseases spread by contaminated water. Increasingly, communities on the lake's shores rely on underground springs for drinking water. The same characteristics that make it unsuitable for drinking limit its use in irrigation . The climate

2501-476: The lake, but migrate up the Omo River and other affluents to breed. The lake is heavily fished. The Lake Turkana region is home to hundreds of species of birds native to Kenya . The East African Rift System also serves as a flyway for migrating birds, bringing in hundreds more. The birds are essentially supported by plankton masses in the lake, which also feed the fish. Some birds more common to Turkana are

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2562-473: The land. Sudden, violent storms are frequent. Three rivers (the Omo , Turkwel and Kerio ) flow into the lake, but lacking outflow , its only water loss is by evaporation. Lake volume and dimensions are variable. For example, its level fell by 10 m (33 ft) between 1975 and 1993. Despite the lack of outflow, in ecology it is often regarded as a part of—or at least associated with—the Nile basin because of its prehistoric connection to this system and

2623-546: The lion and the cheetah . Elephants and the black rhinoceroses are no longer seen, although Teleki reported seeing (and shooting) many. Closer to the dust is the cushioned gerbil ( Gerbillus pulvinatus ). Lake Turkana is an East African Rift feature. A rift is a weak place in the Earth's crust due to the separation of two tectonic plates , often accompanied by a graben , or trough, in which lake water can collect. The rift began when East Africa, impelled by currents in

2684-466: The location of many of these peoples, refer to the dialect map in the article. The lake was originally named Lake Rudolf (in honour of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria ) by Count Sámuel Teleki de Szék and his second-in-command Lieutenant Ludwig Ritter Von Höhnel , a Hungarian and an Austrian , on 6 March 1888. They were the first Europeans to have recorded visiting the lake after a long safari across East Africa. The lake kept its European name during

2745-577: The name Fauna , a Roman goddess of earth and fertility, the Roman god Faunus , and the related forest spirits called Fauns . All three words are cognates of the name of the Greek god Pan , and panis is the Modern Greek equivalent of fauna (πανίς or rather πανίδα). Fauna is also the word for a book that catalogues the animals in such a manner. The term was first used by Carl Linnaeus from Sweden in

2806-417: The only lake that retains the waters originating from two separate catchment areas of the Nile . The Lake Turkana drainage basin draws its waters mainly from Kenya Highlands and Ethiopian Highlands . The basement rocks of the region have been dated by two analytical determinations to 522 and 510 million years ago (mya). No rift was in the offing at that time. A rift is signalled by volcanic activity through

2867-856: The outcrops forming the rocky mountains and badlands around the lake. In the Omo portion of the basin, of the Mursi Basalts, the Mursi Formation is on the west side of the Omo, the Nkalabong on the Omo, and the Usno and Shungura east of the Omo. Probably the best known of the formations are the Koobi Fora on the east side of Turkana and the Nachukui on the west. Short-term fluctuations in lake level combined with periodic volcanic ash spewings over

2928-478: The period when domesticated animals were first introduced to the region about 5000 years ago, while later, the dead were buried in small grave cairns. People who live in the region today commonly practice mixed subsistence, switching between hunting, fishing and animal herding based on what is feasible in a given year. However, the construction of infrastructure like Christian missionary stations, energy extraction (wind, oil) and NGO aid distribution points have made

2989-433: The primary subsistence economies. This was mostly supplanted by animal-based agriculture by 5000 years ago, when the lake level was in a period of rapid fluctuation. During the later Holocene , human responses to climatic changes included intensive fishing when lake level was high and a shift to cattle herding when the level dropped. Megalithic graves are found widely distributed on the lake shores and appear to correspond to

3050-415: The project did not assess the impact of the dam on the water level and water quality of Lake Turkana.[32] The director of Kenya's Water Services Regulatory Board, John Nyaoro, argued that the dam would have no negative impact on Lake Turkana.[33] A Kenya Government report in 2021 estimated that the surface area of Lake Turkana had increased by 10% between 2010 and 2020. Fauna Fauna comes from

3111-494: The region have resulted in a fortuitous layering of the ground cover over the basal rocks. These horizons can be dated more precisely by chemical analysis of the tuff . As this region is believed to have been an evolutionary nest of hominins , the dates are important for generating a diachronic array of fossils, both hominoid and nonhominoid—that is, both ape (includes hominins) and non-ape . Many thousands have been excavated. Terraces representing ancient shores are visible in

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3172-416: The region more connected to and dependent on outside resources for subsistence. Traditional modes of subsistence like pastoralism and fishing are now supplemented by the cash-based economy. The Lake Turkana Wind Power consortium (LTWP) plans to provide 310 MW of power to Kenya's national electricity grid by tapping the unique wind conditions around the lake. The plan calls for 365 wind turbines , each with

3233-426: The region's ethnic groups into cross-border violent conflict reaching well into South Sudan, as starvation confronts all of them. The report offers a devastating look at a deeply flawed development process fuelled by the special interests of global finance and African governments. In the process, it identifies major overlooked or otherwise minimised risks, not the least of which is a U.S. Geological Survey estimation of

3294-615: The seafloor. Infauna are benthic organisms that live within the bottom substratum of a water body, especially within the bottom-most oceanic sediments, the layer of small particles at the bottom of a body of water, rather than on its surface. Bacteria and microalgae may also live in the interstices of bottom sediments. In general, infaunal animals become progressively smaller and less abundant with increasing water depth and distance from shore, whereas bacteria show more constancy in abundance, tending toward one million cells per milliliter of interstitial seawater. Such creatures are found in

3355-577: The sediment at the bottom of the ocean. Limnofauna refers to the animals that live in fresh water. Macrofauna are benthic or soil organisms which are retained on a 0.5 mm sieve. Studies in the deep sea define macrofauna as animals retained on a 0.3 mm sieve to account for the small size of many of the taxa. Megafauna are large animals of any particular region or time. For example, Australian megafauna . Meiofauna are small benthic invertebrates that live in both marine and freshwater environments . The term meiofauna loosely defines

3416-460: The shore of an ancient and larger Lake Turkana, and where numerous human skeletons showing major traumatic injuries to the head, neck, ribs, knees and hands are argued to be evidence of inter-group conflict between nomadic hunter-gatherers 10,000 years ago. With over 230 individuals found at the Koobi Fora site along the western shore, and scattered Homo sapiens skeletons with bone marks along

3477-427: The similarities in their aquatic faunas . Due to temperature (its surface water typically is 27–31 °C [81–88 °F] and the mean air temperature of the region generally is similar or slightly higher), aridity and geographic inaccessibility, the lake retains its wild character. Nile crocodiles are found in great abundance on the flats. The rocky shores are home to scorpions and carpet vipers . The lake

3538-400: The title of his 1745 work Fauna Suecica . Cryofauna refers to the animals that live in, or very close to, cold areas. Cryptofauna is the fauna that exists in protected or concealed microhabitats . Epifauna, also called epibenthos , are aquatic animals that live on the bottom substratum as opposed to within it, that is, the benthic fauna that live on top of the sediment surface at

3599-714: The weakened crust. The oldest volcanic activity of the region occurred in the Nabwal Hills northeast of Turkana and is dated to 34.8 mya in the late Eocene . The visible tectonic features of the region result from extensive extrusions of basalt over the Turkana-Omo basin in the window 4.18–3.99 mya. These are called the Gombe Group Basalts. They are subdivided into the Mursi Basalts and the Gombi Basalts. The two latter basalts are identified as

3660-530: Was also a location for the film of the same title . In 2010, Loiyangalani was briefly made a district on its own from the former Laisamis district by the President of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki . Lake Turkana Lake Turkana ( / t ɜːr ˈ k ɑː n ə , - ˈ k æ n -/ ) is a saline lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley , in northern Kenya , with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia . It

3721-470: Was proposed in 1986 by V. P. Alexeev. In 1984, the Turkana Boy , a nearly complete skeleton of a Homo ergaster juvenile, was discovered by Kamoya Kimeu . More recently, Meave Leakey discovered a 3.5 million-year-old skull there, designated Kenyanthropus platyops ("the flat-faced man of Kenya"). Marta Mirazón Lahr discovered early evidence of human warfare at the site of Nataruk , located near

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