Geology of Serengeti National Park - Tanzania

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Serengeti National Park Rivers

The Serengeti plains rest at an elevation of 1,600 to 1,800 meters above sea level, with numerous river catchments traversing the area. The Mara River, originating in the Mau forests of the Kenyan highlands, flows southward through the Masai Mara National Reserve, then westward through the northern Serengeti, finally emptying into Lake Victoria at Musoma. It is the sole permanently flowing river within the Serengeti ecosystem, nurturing dense riverine forests along its banks and major tributaries in Serengeti National Park. South of the Mara, the Grumeti and Mbalaget Rivers form the parallel catchments of the Western Corridor of Serengeti National Park. Further south, smaller rivers like the Duma, Simiyu, and Semu flow through the Maswa Game Reserve. The region is characterized by undulating terrain dissected by numerous small seasonal streams feeding into the main rivers.

Serengeti Plains, Hills, and Mountains

Bands of hills rise dramatically from this relatively flat landscape. One such band marks the north-eastern boundary of Serengeti National Park, extending through the woodlands from Grumechen to Kuko and connecting with the Loita Hills in Kenya. The Gol Mountains emerge from the Serengeti plains east of the park. Another band stretches from Seronera westward along the corridor, forming the Central Ranges, while a third group of hills lies in the south, creating the Nyaraboro-Itonjo plateau.

The History of Soils and Volcanic Ash

West of the Mugumu – Seronera line, the underlying rocks are ancient, dating back 600 million to 2.5 billion years, and consist of Precambrian volcanic rocks, banded ironstones, and mineral-poor granites. Late Precambrian sedimentary rocks cover this shield, forming the central and southern hills. East of Seronera, granite and quartzite shape the eastern hills and kopjes. The western corridor, with its more recent geological history, is a complex of unconsolidated sediments and alluvial formations, providing a foundation for nutrient-rich soils. The Crater Highlands, with volcanoes from the Pleistocene age, comprise basic igneous rocks and basalt. Ol Doinyo Lengai remains active, with its last eruption in 2013.

Africa, as a continent, is ancient, with evidence suggesting an age of 4 billion years, surpassing Europe and North America. This antiquity is visible from the air, particularly when flying into Kilimanjaro Airport. Millions of years of weathering have flattened mountains, transforming much of Africa into rolling plains and hills. An exception is the geologically active East African Rift system.

The East African Rift is where two tectonic plates are diverging, creating cracks that have formed the immense Rift Valley and the volcanoes flanking it. Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, and Mount Meru are among the Rift’s notable volcanoes. Although Ngorongoro Crater appears as an extinct volcano, geological surveys indicate it never erupted; instead, it is a caldera formed by the collapse of the mountain as tectonic plates diverged.

The volcanoes of the East African Rift are relatively young. As they erupted, they covered the eastern Serengeti with volcanic ash and larger particles, creating a unique mineral-rich soil. The eastern plains’ soils contain various salts, including sodium, potassium, and calcium. The soil is shallow due to the formation of a calcareous hardpan, or caliche. During regional rains, salts are leached into the soil. As plants absorb water, soluble substances precipitate, forming and cementing the caliche layer with lime. Soils in the Serengeti deepen towards the northwest plains and woodlands, where the calcareous hardpan disappears due to increased rainfall and decreased calcium. At precipitation levels too high for hardpan formation, a characteristic soil catena emerges, with sandy, shallow, well-drained soil at the top transitioning to poorly drained, deep silty soil at the bottom. These catenas form due to long-term downwash of finer soil particles downslope with surface runoff.

Kopjes

Beneath the layers of volcanic rock and ash that constitute the soil of Serengeti National Park lies a substantial layer of ancient rock. A massive bubble of liquid granite emerged from the molten rock beneath the Earth’s crust, penetrating the Tanganyika Shield in the late Precambrian period. Today, as softer rocks erode, the jagged top of this granite layer is exposed, forming kopjes (pronounced ‘kop-eez’). The granite, cracked by the repeated heating of volcanic ash and cooling under the African sun, is sculpted into intriguing shapes by the wind. Most kopjes are rounded or feature round boulders.

Kopjes are a distinctive feature of the Serengeti landscape, often described as ‘islands in a sea of grassland plains.’ They offer protection from bushfires, retain more water in their immediate vicinity, provide a refuge for animals, and serve as vantage points for predators. Hundreds of plant species thrive on kopjes, but not in the surrounding grasslands. Many animal species inhabit kopjes due to the presence of these plants and for protection. These animals include insects, lizards, snakes, and mammals such as shrews and mice, as well as larger mammals like lions. Kopjes are prime locations for observing lions and occasionally cheetahs or leopards.