This book is the first comprehensive account of the modern Kenya Rift Valley lakes and their precursor lakes preserved in the sedimentary record. The first part gives the broad geological and environmental background to the Kenya Rift and a history of research. In the second part, each modern lake is described from perspectives of geology, limnology, ecology, sedimentology and late Quaternary history. The fossil lake sediments, some linked to hominin sites, and their paleoenvironmental history are considered in the third part. In the fourth section, the global tectonic, volcanic and climate controls of lake evolution in continental rifts are examined. The last section discusses the resource potential of the lakes and their sediments, and the environmental issues that currently affect the modern lakes. This research-level book (geology, paleoecology) is illustrated throughout by original figures and photographs.

First fully-illustrated book to document all the Kenya Rift lakes in detail

Multidisciplinary treatment to serve several disciplines (geology, limnology, ecology)

An up-to-date chapter on the geological evolution of the Kenya Rift Valley

Provides context for sites of international archeological and paleoanthropological (hominin) interest

Source book for the geology and limnogeology of the Kenya Rift lakes