Karsa, Kenya
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| Karsa | |
|---|---|
 Pliocene columnar basalt at Karsa watering hole, in Turkana, Kenya. | |
 Interactive map of Karsa | |
| Location | Marsabit, Turkana County, Kenya |
| Karsa, Kenya | |
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  Location of Karsa in Kenya | |
| Coordinates | 03°10′38″N 36°32′33″E / 3.17722°N 36.54250°E |
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.
Karsa is located in Turkana county, in Northern Kenya, east of Lake Turkana's Allia Bay, and south of Sibilot and Koobi Fora.[1][2] 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.[3] 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.[1][4] Karsa basalts underlie the Koobi Fora formation,[5] and just overlie a thin sedimentary sequence that includes molluscs.[4]