The Kenya Rift Lakes: Modern and Ancient - Limnology and Limnogeology of Tropical Lakes in a Continental Rift

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.


Robin Renaut is emeritus professor at University of Saskatchewan, where he taught sedimentology and limnogeology for more than 30 years. His research focus has been on sedimentation, hydrochemistry, and environmental history of the saline alkaline lakes of the Kenya Rift Valley, and hydrothermal spring deposits in Kenya and New Zealand.
Bernie Owen has taught a variety of geology and physical geography subjects in both Malawi and Hong Kong. He is currently emeritus professor at the Hong Kong Baptist University and continues his research into palaeoenvironments, sedimentology, geochemistry and micropalaeontology in lake and spring settings.