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Karsa
Pliocene columnar basalt at Karsa watering hole, in Turkana, Kenya.
Location	Marsabit, Turkana County, Kenya

Location of Karsa in Kenya
Coordinates	03°10′38″N 36°32′33″E / 3.17722°N 36.54250°E / 3.17722; 36.54250

Karsa is a basalt geological formation, archaeological site, and watering hole in Turkana County, Kenya, on the southeast margin of Lake Turkana. Karsa volcanic flows lie at the base of important sedimentary formations in the Turkana Basin and are an example of columnar jointed basalt.

Geology

Karsa is located in Turkana county, in Northern Kenya, east of Lake Turkana's Allia Bay, and south of Sibilot and Koobi Fora. The site is a part of the volcanic highlands at the foot of the Sibilot volcanic system, and is dominated by large, angular boulders that are derived from lava outcrops. Older volcanic, Karsa basalts date to 14 million years ago, during the Miocene, and are weathered in a spheroidal pattern. Two younger basalt flows date to 4.35 and 3.97 million years ago, during the Pliocene, and are jointed in a columnar pattern. Karsa basalts underlie the Koobi Fora formation, and just overlie a thin sedimentary sequence that includes molluscs.

History

Karsa is a watering hole used by local wildlife in an otherwise barren landscape, and is an archaeological site where Late Stone Age microliths have been found. Karsa's location is advantageous for occupation because of its provision of water and elevated position overlooking the region.

In the 20th century, the Gabbra nomadic people used the Karsa formation as a watering hole for their animals, especially in times of water scarcity. Karsa was sometimes the target of flock raids. In the first half of the 20th century, Karsa stationed the British empire's King's African Rifles, and during the Second World War, became site of a police outpost for the Kenyan and British governments.

After the war, grazing controls were implemented at Karsa and in surrounding areas.

See also

• Lake Turkana
• Mount Kulal
• Chalbi desert
• Marsabit

References

1. ^ McDougall, Ian (1985). "K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar dating of the hominid-bearing Pliocene-Pleistocene sequence at Koobi Fora, Lake Turkana, northern Kenya". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 96 (2): 159. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1985)96<159:kaadot>2.0.co;2.
2. ^ Tablino, Paul (1999). The Gabra: Camel Nomads of Northern Kenya. Paulines Publications Africa. ISBN 9789966214386. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
3. Toth, Patrick (1982). The Stone Technologies of Early Hominids at Koobi Fora, Kenya: An Experimental Approach. University of California, Berkeley. pp. 219–222.
4. ^ Haileab, Bereket; Gathogo, Patrick (2004). "Gombe Group basalts and initiation of Pliocene deposition in the Turkana depression, northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia". Geological Magazine. 141: 41. doi:10.1017/s001675680300815x.
5. Coffing, Katharine (1994). "Four-Million-Year-Old Hominids From East Lake Turkana, Kenya". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 93 (1): 55–65. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330930104. PMID 8141242.
6. Briggs, Philip (2013). DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Kenya. DK Eyewitness Travel. p. 355.
7. Barthelme, John Webster (1985). Fisher-hunters and Neolithic pastoralists in east Turkana, Kenya. BAR International Series.
8. Kenya Native Affairs Department (1935). Annual Report on Native Affairs. Government Printer South Africa.

• Great Rift Valley
• Turkana County