Menengai

Menengai is a large volcanic caldera near Nakuru, Kenya, formed by a shield volcano in the Great Rift Valley. Its volcanic system includes active geothermal resources.

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Caldera: A large volcanic depression formed when a volcano’s summit collapses after magma is withdrawn. Menengai’s broad depression is the defining landform produced by its volcanic collapse.
Great Rift Valley: A vast system of tectonic valleys and basins extending through eastern Africa and southwestern Asia. Menengai lies within the Kenyan sector of this continental rift system.
Menengai Geothermal Project: A Kenyan project developing steam from the Menengai geothermal field for electricity generation. It is the main energy development built around the caldera’s geothermal resource.
Lake Nakuru: A shallow alkaline lake in Kenya’s Rift Valley, within Lake Nakuru National Park. The lake lies near Menengai and shares the surrounding rift landscape.
Shield volcano: A broad volcano built mainly from repeated flows of fluid basaltic lava. The volcano that produced Menengai’s caldera was a shield volcano.
East African Rift: An active continental rift where the African Plate is separating into distinct tectonic plates. Rifting created the tectonic setting for Menengai’s volcanism.
Geothermal power station: A facility that converts heat from Earth into electricity, often using geothermal steam. Power plants are the planned endpoint for steam produced from Menengai wells.
Menengai Crater: The broad volcanic depression at the summit of Menengai volcano near Nakuru, Kenya. This named crater is the central landform of the Menengai volcanic complex.
Volcanic eruption: The release of magma, gas, and other material from a volcano onto or above Earth’s surface. Eruptions built the volcanic edifice and helped shape the caldera system.
Rift valley: An elongated depression formed where Earth’s crust stretches and subsides between faults. Menengai’s regional setting is a fault-bounded valley shaped by crustal extension.