Barrier, The

About Barrier, The

The Barrier volcanic complex separates Lake Turkana from the broad Suguta Trough to the S, the site of a former lake. The volcano is comprised of four overlapping shield volcanoes, with the youngest, Kakorinya, located over the axis of the East African Rift. Kalolenyang volcano lies W of Kakorinya, and Likaiu West and Likaiu East are located to the ENE. A 3.8-km-wide summit caldera was formed at Kakorinya about 92,000 years ago. Youthful-looking trachytic and phonolitic lava domes and flows erupted within the caldera and along its ring fracture fill much of the caldera floor. Early Holocene fissure-related scoria cones and lava flows dot the S and N flanks. Solfataric fields are located within the caldera and on the W and S flanks. Historical eruptions from Teleki's and Andrew's cones on the N and S flanks, respectively, have produced basaltic explosive activity and lava flows during the 19th and 20th centuries.