This great stone formation is known as Crying Stone Kakamega. It is set at the top of a hill, near Kakamega town – the mysterious Crying Stone of Ilesi. It is an important landmark on the road to Kisumu and holds great significance for the local people who live nearby.. The rock formation resembles a solemn head falling on weary shoulders.
GEOLOGY
Formation of granite
The magmas (melted rocks) from which igneous rocks are formed either solidify deeply into intrusive rocks (plutonic rocks) like granite, or they flow out on the surface of the earth and form extrusive rocks (volcanic rocks) like basalt. Igneous rocks have different structures. With rapid cooling, tiny crystals or amorphous glass are formed; with slow solidification, coarse-grained rocks form.
Deep rocks (intrusive rocks)
Deep rocks solidify deep in the earth's crust and are characterized by large crystals. They appear as batholiths, plutones and laccolites. A batholith is a large intrusive body with an extension of at least 100 km2 and a thickness of about 10 to 15 km and forms the core of the Alps, for example. They are usually composed of smaller intrusions (plutons). These can consist of different types of rock. Laccolites are minor intrusions that form a characteristic dome-like structure with mostly a horizontal one. Granite, diorite, peridotite, syenite and gabbro are deep rocks.
Minerals
Granite, for example, is a rock that consists of the minerals feldspar, quartz and mica. The granite is made up of different minerals, which is evident from the fact that it is speckled: it contains lighter and darker parts that owe their different colors to three different minerals. The darker parts come from mineral mica. The quartz mineral often appears whitish to gray. The third mineral, feldspar, can take on all possible colors, even pink. Granite could not reach the surface of the earth and got stuck on the way up (as a graft). It cooled there over a very long period of time, creating optimal conditions for crystal formation. The individual minerals are easily recognizable even with the naked eye.
Characteristics
Granite is known for its wide range of colors and for its high stability and strength. Depending on the mineral content, granites come in almost all colors. The pattern is crystalline, medium or coarse-grained. Thanks to the good visibility of its crystals, polished granite looks very noble. Due to its very high quartz content, granite has a hardness of 6-8 on the Mohs scale and is therefore considered the hardest natural stone. The high hardness ensures a very good abrasion and weather resistance as well as heat resistance. The stone is easy to care for and easy to polish, which explains its popularity and diverse uses.
Contact to the bedrock
The contact with the bedrock led to "contamination" in the marginal areas of the magma and to a faster cooling of the magma. Often, particularly unusual rock types and minerals are created. The bedrock can also change significantly due to the high temperature and the material supply from the hot magma and convert it into a metamorphic rock.
Xenoliths
The word comes from the ancient Greek word Xenos (foreign) and Lithos (stone). Xenoliths are fragments of foreign rock within a host rock, so they differ from the rock in which they are located. If they are similar in nature, these stones are called autoliths or related inclusions. Since they had to exist as a solid rock fragment when the magma or lava solidified around them, real xenoliths are always older than their host rocks. Xenoliths are often different types of rock, which was embedded in magma during cooling. Magma is the molten rock under the earth's crust. For example, if the magma rises above the earth's surface during a volcanic eruption, this is called lava, which is why lava is the name for erupted magma. Xenoliths are usually easy to recognize because they often differ significantly in composition, density and color from the surrounding rock. Xenoliths are generally small in size with respect to the entire rock body. Xenoliths can range in size from single crystals to rock fragments of several meters.
Xenocrystals
Xenocrystals are explosives from foreign minerals that were carried away from the bedrock when the magma rose. There are a number of possible sources of xenoliths and xenocrystals found on the surface of the earth. Magma can penetrate existing rocks (sometimes referred to as land rocks) and possibly absorb fragments of these rocks. Xenoliths can also be formed from fragments of the walls of a magma chamber or pipe. Xenoliths can also be absorbed by lava from lava during explosive volcanic eruptions as it flows along the surface of the earth. These fragments, which are trapped in the magma or lava but do not melt in them, become xenoliths. When magma breaks out or flows to the surface of the earth, the lava is cooled by the action of the atmosphere or water. The lava cools down pretty quickly and different types of igneous rocks form. Xenoliths and xenocrystals are affected by the temperature. A xenolite can lose its unique properties if it melts into the surrounding magma. When it cools, the material can no longer be xenolite, but can become a metamorphic rock. Metamorphic rock is a rock that is formed within the Earth by changes in temperature and pressure that affect existing rocks (often magmatic or sedimentary). Xenoliths and xenocrystals provide valuable information about the geology of the earth's crust and mantle. Xenolites can give clues to the origin and development of the host rock. For example, if a igneous rock contains a xenolith, geologists know that the magma or lava that cooled to this igneous rock came into contact with the foreign rock. Xenoliths are important because they give geologists the ability to study rock that is difficult to access.
Mafic magmas
In granite, larger, rounded, ellipsoidal or streaky inclusions can also be traced back to the particular composition of the magma. In the resting magma e.g. Complexes containing iron and magnesium (mafic magmas) have separated from the predominantly rocky magma (predominantly quartz, rock spar). These are carried away on the ascent, but then do not mix with the rocky magma. They crystallize in their own way, so that they now catch the eye as strikingly large components in the small granite mass.
anti Kristen
These snap-in rings are macroscopically visible crystals that are embedded in the microcrystalline or glassy base of a volcanic rock. The corresponding structure is called the porphyric structure. If the sprinklers have crystallized out of the same melt as the basic mass, they are also called phenocrystals or phenocrists. In these cases, the basic mass consists largely of the same minerals as the sprinklers. Since phenocrystals are the rule for rocks with a porphyry structure, the term phenocrystalline is also used as a synonym for an intruder. The term antecrists (from Latin ante 'before') has been coined for those who have jumped in from foreign minerals, which originated from another magma that had not previously completely solidified and entered the volcanic melt through magma mixing.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
It consists of a large boulder balanced on a column of rock with water flowing, occasionally, from a groove in the middle – giving the impression of tears. The ‘tears’ are said to flow down the length of the column.
Villagers say when the stone cries, it is a good omen, signalling a bumper harvest. When there is drought, the community had carried out rituals here to persuade the gods to bring rain. Other rituals have been performed to allay disasters. The main legend is that the stone ‘cries’ when it has not rained in Kenya:
The site is also used for cleansing victims of incest in families. There is a cave under the crying stone called Shimichiro, where those involved in acts of incest are cleansed before they can be re-accepted into the community. The cleansing process involves those affected going to the cave to be administered traditional herbs, normally prepared by respected elder
During sacrifices to appease the gods for rain or to avoid looming calamities like famine, several animals are slaughtered in nightlong festivities held at the foot of the crying stone.
Women and children don’t participate in these festivities which are men only affairs. The women’s role is to prepare food for the rituals. After performing the rituals, the men usually slaughter a bull, a sheep, a goat and some chickens to go with traditional foodstuffs such as ugali made from millet flour for the feast.
It’s quite a steep climb and the path is rocky but it’s certainly an interesting place to visit.
source:
The Crying Stone of Ilesi – Kakamega
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1) What do you think is the geological reason for the legend of crying?
2) At the surface there are inclusions - describe in own words what kind of inclusions they are. Which color and which size they have?
3) Estimate the height of the biggest stone (meter or feet)
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