Contributions to the Geology of British East Africa.—Part I. The Glacial Geology of Mount Kenya

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Abstract
In the discussion as to the respective merits of the rival theories concerning the causes of former glaciation, few lines of work seem likely to yield better results than the study of the originally greater extension of glaciers in tropical regions. When therefore, on emerging from the dense forests of the lower slopes of Mount Kenya, I came upon a series of old moraines, not 10 miles from the Equator and far below the level of the existing glaciers, my interest was at once aroused in the additional problems presented for solution. Mount Kenya is situated in long. 37° 20′ E. and lat. 0° 6′ S.; it rises to the height of approximately 19,500 feet, and covers an area of about 700 square miles. It consists in its lower part of a huge pile of volcanic ash and débris, with a low gradient, rising from 7200 to 10,200 feet, densely covered with forest and bamboo-jungle. Above this frown steep craggy slopes of coarse agglomerates, ash, and lava, while the whole is surmounted by a rugged pyramidal peak which is part of the central core of the old volcano. The central peak is of such excessive steepness that the snow is scattered irregularly over it, instead of forming a ‘calotte’ or snow-cap, similar to those on Kibo (the higher summit of Kilima Njaro) and Chimborazo. The snow accumulates in the hollows and on the slopes with lower gradients; from these snow-fields a series of glaciers flow down into the valleys. The

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