Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano in Tanzania and the highest mountain in Africa, consisting of three volcanic cones including Kibo Peak which reaches 5,895 meters above sea level. Kibo Peak has an almost symmetrical cone shape with scarps and contains an inner crater called the Reusch Crater within the caldera, which was named after Dr. Richard Reusch who climbed Kilimanjaro 65 times. In the late 1880s, Kibo Peak was completely covered by an ice cap and glaciers, but it has since lost over 80% of its ice cover between 1912 and present day, with the ice fields shrinking at an increasing rate and expected to disappear completely by 2033.

1. DESCRIPTIVE TEXT - GUNUNG KILIMANJARO
Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is a
dormant volcano in Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania and the highest
mountain in Africa at 5,895 metres or 19,341 feet above sea level (the
Uhuru Peak/Kibo Peak).
Kilimanjaro rises from its base, and approximately 5,100 m (16,732 ft) from
the plains near Moshi. Kibo is capped by an almost symmetrical cone with
scarps rising 180 to 200 m on the south side. These scarps define a 2.5 km
wide caldera. Within this caldera is an inner crater, the Reusch Crater. This
inner crater was named after Dr. Richard Reusch. The name was conferred
by the government of Tanganyika in 1954 at the same time it awarded
Reusch a gold medal on having climbed Kilmanjaro for the 25th time.
Reusch climbed Kilimanjaro 65 times and helped to establish the exact
elevation of the crater. Within the Reusche Crater lies the Ash Pit. The
Reusche Crater itself is nearly surrounded by a 400 feet (120 m) high dune
of volcanic ash.
In the late 1880s the summit of Kibo was completely covered by an ice cap
with outlet glaciers cascading down the western and southern slopes, and,
except for the inner cone, the entire caldera was buried. Glacier ice flowed
also through the Western Breach.
An examination of ice cores taken from the North Ice Field Glacier indicate
that the "snows of Kilimanjaro" (aka glaciers) have a basal age of 11,700
years. A continuous ice cap covering approximately 400 square kilometers
covered the mountain during the period of maximum glaciation, extending
across the summits of Kibo and Mawenzi. The glacial ice survived drought

2. conditions during a three century period beginning ~2200 BCE.
The period from 1912 to present has witnessed the disappearance of more
than 80% of the ice cover on Kilimanjaro. From 1912-1953 there was ~1%
annual loss, while 1989-2007 saw ~2.5% annual loss. Of the ice cover still
present in 2000, 26% had disappeared by 2007. While the current shrinking
and thinning of Kilimanjaro's ice fields appears to be unique within its almost
twelve millennium history, it is contemporaneous with widespread glacier
retreat in mid-to-low latitudes across the globe. At the current rate,
Kilimanjaro is expected to become ice-free some time between 2022 and
2033.

3. DESCRIPTIVE TEXT - GUNUNG KILIMANJARO