Crater Highlands

volcanic highlands in East Africa, in northern Tanzania, in the area where the Eastern Rift ends. The Crater Highlands lie between Lake Natron in the northeast, Lake Manyara in the southeast, and Lake Eyasi in the southwest. The highlands were formed by eight extinct volcanic cones and calderas (craters caused by subsidence) rising above the general lava base. The highest point is Mount Loolmalassin (3,648 meters). The huge dimensions of the highland’s craters (calderas) lend the area its exceptional distinctiveness (“landscape of lunar cirques”). The largest caldera, Ngorongoro, measures 22 km across; its bottom is partly occupied by a lake. Savanna vegetation predominates. Within the Ngorongoro Crater is a preserve (national park) with a great variety of large mammals. Near the Crater Highlands, west of Ngorongoro, is the Olduvai Gorge, famous because of the remains of prehistoric man found there.