A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arisen from the same cause, usually an orogeny . Mountain ranges are formed by a variety of geological processes, but most of the significant ones on Earth are the result of plate tectonics . Mountain ranges are also found on many planetary mass objects in the Solar System and are likely a feature of most terrestrial planets .
26-716: The Chyulu Hills is a mountain range in Makueni County in southeastern Kenya. It forms a 100-kilometre-long volcanic field in an elongated northeast–southwest direction. Its highest peak is 2,188 metres high. The Leviathan Cave (also known as Kisula caves) in Chyulu Hills National Park is about 11 km long, one of the longest caves in Africa. The national park is part of the Tsavo conservation area which covers Tsavo West National Park , Tsavo East National Park and
52-801: A variety of rock types . Most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earth's land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide belt . The Pacific Ring of Fire includes the Andes of South America, extends through the North American Cordillera , the Aleutian Range , on through Kamchatka Peninsula , Japan , Taiwan , the Philippines , Papua New Guinea , to New Zealand . The Andes
78-688: Is 7,000 kilometres (4,350 mi) long and is often considered the world's longest mountain system. The Alpide belt stretches 15,000 km across southern Eurasia , from Java in Maritime Southeast Asia to the Iberian Peninsula in Western Europe , including the ranges of the Himalayas , Karakoram , Hindu Kush , Alborz , Caucasus , and the Alps . The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in
104-494: Is a total of 460 health facilities, 995 hospital beds and 73 cots in the county, staffed by 1325 health personnel. HIV prevalence rate was 2.9% in 2017, lower than the national rate of 5.9%. The county is covered by 1,260 km of road network. Of this, 767.5 km is covered by earth surface, 266.7 km is marram surface and 225.7 km of surface is covered by bitumen. During the rainy seasons, some sections of gravel and earth surface roads are impassable. The county
130-525: Is at work while the mountains are being uplifted until the mountains are reduced to low hills and plains. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example. As the uplift was occurring some 10,000 feet (3,000 m) of mostly Mesozoic sedimentary strata were removed by erosion over the core of the mountain range and spread as sand and clays across the Great Plains to
156-527: Is drier, having been stripped of much of its moisture. Often, a rain shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. As a consequence, large mountain ranges, such as the Andes, compartmentalize continents into distinct climate regions . Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to erosional forces which work to tear them down. The basins adjacent to an eroding mountain range are then filled with sediments that are buried and turned into sedimentary rock . Erosion
182-630: Is known as Chuylu , as opposed to Miraa , which is cultivated in the Meru County . The Chyulu Hills National Park comprises the eastern flank of the hills and is operated by the Kenya Wildlife Service . The park was formed in 1983. It forms a northwestern continuation of Tsavo West National Park . The western flank of the hills is covered by the West Chyulu Game Conservation owned by Maasai group ranches. Potential threats to
208-506: Is one of the 47 counties of Kenya located in the former Eastern Province . It borders Isiolo County to the north, Tharaka-Nithi County to the South, Nyeri County to the southwest and Laikipia County to the west. Meru County has a population of 1.35 million people. It is home to the Meru people . The county headquarters are in Meru . The current governor of Meru County is Kawira Mwangaza of
234-528: Is served by one airstrip; Gaitu airstrip in Meru Central. There are six post offices and four sub-post offices with 7,600 installed letter boxes, 5,937 rented letter boxes, and 1,663 vacant letter boxes with numerous registered stamp vendors in the county. The six post offices are located in Meru , Maua , Nkubu , Timau , Muthara and Laare . They offer mail services, parcel delivery and other services. Most private and public organizations have embraced ICT in
260-613: The Kenya Kwanza coalition. Meru County is the 5th largest economy in Kenya with a GDP of $ 3.48B and $ 9.48B (PPP). Meru County is the leading county in agricultural production contributing 7.6% to Kenya's agricultural production. Agriculture is the main economic activity due to rich Volcanic soils in high altitude areas. Meru County is the leading County in Kenya by Horticultural production of Coffee, tea, French-beans and dairy products. Wholesale and retail trade also play an important role in
286-552: The Mithrim Montes and Doom Mons on Titan, and Tenzing Montes and Hillary Montes on Pluto. Some terrestrial planets other than Earth also exhibit rocky mountain ranges, such as Maxwell Montes on Venus taller than any on Earth and Tartarus Montes on Mars . Jupiter's moon Io has mountain ranges formed from tectonic processes including the Boösaule , Dorian, Hi'iaka and Euboea Montes . Meru County Meru County
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#1733085877014312-467: The Ocean Ridge forms the longest continuous mountain system on Earth, with a length of 65,000 kilometres (40,400 mi). The position of mountain ranges influences climate, such as rain or snow. When air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools, producing orographic precipitation (rain or snow). As the air descends on the leeward side, it warms again (following the adiabatic lapse rate ) and
338-625: The Tsavo and Galana rivers and Mzima Springs on the surrounding plains. Chyulu hills divide the Tsavo and Amboseli plains. The area is inhabited by Maasai and Kamba people. Lower parts of the hills are composed of grassland and thicket , while above roughly 1800 metres is dominated by montane forest . The forest contains Neoboutonia macrocalyx , soccerball fruit , African cherry , Strombosia scheffleri , Cassipourea malosana , black ironwood , and African holly . Some isolated parts are dominated by Abyssinian coral tree . Lower parts of
364-676: The Kibwezi Forest. The park's main gate is in Kibwezi in Makueni County. The Chyulu Hills stood in for the Ngong Hills in the film Out of Africa . The Chyulu Hills are located about 150 km east of the Kenya Rift . The hills consists of several hundred small flows and cones. Volcanism in the area started about 1.4 million years ago in the northern parts of the hills, and over time
390-699: The county's economy. It's the Leading County that produces Miraa (Khat) for export and hence boosting the economic national grid. Meru town is the largest and main financial hub of Meru County. Mount Kenya (now politically divided between Meru and other counties) has been influenced by the climate of the coast, especially the eastern slopes of the mountain with altitude ranges from 300m to 5,199m above sea level. Many rivers have their streams originating from Mount Kenya and Nyambene streams. Tana and Ewaso Nyiro Rivers are used for domestic and agricultural use. When Kenya replaced its provinces with counties, Meru County
416-445: The day-to-day operations. Private entrepreneurs have continued to set up cyber cafes in major towns and trading centers due to high demand for internet services among others. Most of the areas in the county are covered by mobile phone network with the coverage being 95 per cent. Areas without mobile network coverage are mainly areas of Tigania bordering Isiolo County. Most of the community members rely on radio, television and newspapers as
442-485: The east. This mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift. The removal of such a mass from the core of the range most likely caused further uplift as the region adjusted isostatically in response to the removed weight. Rivers are traditionally believed to be the principal cause of mountain range erosion, by cutting into bedrock and transporting sediment. Computer simulation has shown that as mountain belts change from tectonically active to inactive,
468-520: The ecosystem include poaching , overgrazing by growing population of Maasai herders and scarcity of water. Mountain range Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys . Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology . They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes , for example thrust sheets , uplifted blocks , fold mountains, and volcanic landforms resulting in
494-489: The forest are dominated either by African juniper or Commiphora baluensis . Mammals found in the hills include eastern black rhinos , Cape buffaloes , bushbucks , elands , elephants , bushpigs , Masai giraffe , leopards , lions , mountain reedbucks , steinbok , wildebeest and Grant's zebras . Cheetahs are found at the plains of Chyulu Hills. Various snakes inhabit the hills, like black mamba , puff adder and rock python . There are various bird species on
520-404: The hills, with some endemic races. Bird species include: Shelley's francolin , white-starred robin , orange ground thrush , cinnamon bracken warbler , Ayres's hawk-eagle , African crowned eagle , martial eagle , and Abbott's starling . There is wild khat growing on the hills, which is picked by local people. There is also some cultivation of khat around the hills. Khat from Chyulu hills
546-617: The rate of erosion drops because there are fewer abrasive particles in the water and fewer landslides. Mountains on other planets and natural satellites of the Solar System, including the Moon , are often isolated and formed mainly by processes such as impacts, though there are examples of mountain ranges (or "Montes") somewhat similar to those on Earth. Saturn 's moon Titan and Pluto , in particular, exhibit large mountain ranges in chains composed mainly of ices rather than rock. Examples include
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#1733085877014572-514: The volcanism propagated towards the southeast. These volcanoes are still considered active, since their last two eruptions (Shaitani and Chainu) occurred in 1856. Within the hills is the Leviathan Cave , one of the longest lava tubes in the world. Kibwezi town is located 30 km northeast of the Chyulu Hills. The Chyulu Hills do not have any permanent rivers, but rainfall on hills feeds
598-528: The world, including Mount Everest , which is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) high. Mountain ranges outside these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera , Appalachians , Great Dividing Range , East Siberians , Altais , Scandinavians , Qinling , Western Ghats , Vindhyas , Byrrangas , and the Annamite Range . If the definition of a mountain range is stretched to include underwater mountains, then
624-540: Was Peter Munya , elected in the 2013 election . In the 2017 election , Kiraitu Murungi defeated Munya to become the second governor. The third and current governor, Kawira Mwangaza , was elected in the 2022 election . Murungi was elected in 2013 to be the senator from Meru County. When he ran for governor, Franklin Linturi was elected to the Senate. Florence Kajuju was the county's first woman representative . She
650-966: Was created out of the Eastern Province . It covers a total area of 7,006 km out of which 972.3 km is gazetted as forest. Annual rainfall ranges between 300 mm annually in the lower midlands to 2500 mm in the southeast. Long rains fall from mid-March to May and short rains are present from October to December. As of the 2019 census, the county has a total population of 987,653 of which 489,691 are males, 497,942 females and 20 intersex persons. There are 244,669 households with an average household size of 4.0 persons per household. Religion in Meru County Meru County has nine sub counties, thirty five divisions, one hundred and sixty one locations and three hundred and eighty six sub-locations. It has nine constituencies and forty five county assembly wards. The first governor of Meru County
676-494: Was defeated in 2017 by Kawira Mwangaza . The Meru County Executive Committee comprises: Source There are 1,437 ECD centres, 1,030 primary schools and 372 secondary schools. The county has also 7 tertiary institutions, 6 special schools 7,483 adult education centres and 7 university campuses. Meru University of Science and Technology and Meru National Polytechnic are the largest education centers in Meru County. There
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