Kilimanjaro rises approximately 4,877 metres (16,001 ft) from its base in the plains near Moshi to its summit height of 5,895 metres (19,341 ft).
Kilimanjaro is a large stratovolcano and is composed of three distinct volcanic cones: Kibo, the highest; Mawenzi at 5,149 metres (16,893 ft); and Shira, the shortest at 4,005 metres (13,140 ft). Uhuru Peak is the highest summit on Kibo's crater rim. Tanzania National Parks, a governmental agency,[1] and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization list the height of Uhuru Peak as 5,895 m (19,341 ft). That height is based on a British Ordnance Survey in 1952.Since then, the height has been measured as 5,892 metres (19,331 ft) in 1999, 5,891 metres (19,327 ft) in 2008, and 5,888 metres (19,318 ft) in 2014. The interior of the volcanic edifice is poorly known, given the lack of large scale erosion that could have exposed the interiors of the volcano.
Mawenzi and Shira are extinct, while Kibo is dormant and could erupt again. Eruptive activity commenced 2.5 million years ago at the Shira centre and ended 1.9 million years ago there concurrent with a northwards flank collapse. Subsequently Mawenzi and Kibo both began activity one million years ago. At Mawenzi the youngest dated rocks are about 448,000 years old. Kibo was formed by four major formations, phonotephrites and tephriphonolites of the Lava Tower group (482,000 years ago, on a dyke cropping out 3,600 metres (11,800 ft)), tephriphonolite and phonolite of the Rhomb phorphyry group (460,000-360,000 years ago), aphyric phonolite with basaltic horizons of the Lent group (359,000-337,000 years ago) and porphyric tephriphonolite to phonolite of the Caldera rim group (274,000-170,000 years ago). The last activity has been dated to between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago and created the current Kibo summit crater as well as more than 250 parasitic cones on its northwest and southeast flanks that erupted picrobasalts, trachybasalts, ankaramites and basanites and are generally of small size. Kibo has gas-emitting fumaroles in its crater. The crater itself is embedded in a 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) wide caldera formed by the collapse of the summit
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