Mount Elgon

Mount Elgon straddles the border between Kenya and Uganda, reaching an elevation of about 4,321 meters at its highest point, Wagagai Peak. It is an extinct shield volcano, among the oldest volcanic landforms in East Africa at roughly 24 million years old, and by surface area it is the largest volcanic mass in the region, its long, gentle slopes reflecting a volcanic history far older than the sharper stratovolcanoes of the nearby Rift Valley. Erosion has carved a large caldera into its summit, and its lower slopes are cut by caves, some of which contain mineral salt deposits historically excavated by local elephant populations that dig into the rock to reach them. This entity documents Mount Elgon specifically as a geological formation, an ancient, eroded extinct shield volcano straddling the Kenya-Uganda border.