Lake Victoria - Geology

Geology

Lake Victoria has, during its geological history, gone through changes ranging from its present shallow depression, through to what may have been a series of much smaller lakes. Geological cores taken from its bottom show Lake Victoria has dried up completely at least three times since it formed. These drying cycles are probably related to past ice ages, which were times when precipitation declined globally. Lake Victoria last dried out 17,300 years ago, and it refilled beginning about 14,700 years ago. Geologically, Lake Victoria is relatively young – about 400,000 years old – and it formed when westward-flowing rivers were dammed by an upthrown crustal block.

This geological history probably contributed to the dramatic cichlid speciation that characterises its ecology, as well as that of other African Great Lakes, although some researchers dispute this, arguing while Lake Victoria was at its lowest between 18,000 and 14,000 years ago, and it dried out at least once during that time, there is no evidence of remnant ponds or marshes persisting within the desiccated basin. If such features existed, then they would have been small, shallow, turbid, and/or saline, and therefore markedly different from the lake to which today's species are adapted.

The shallowness of Lake Victoria, its limited river inflow, and its large surface area compared to its volume make it vulnerable to the effects of climate changes.