The Warm and Cold Springs of Ikogosi
In a Nigerian valley, a warm spring and a cold spring run side by side and meet, and for a while each keeps its own temperature.
What was reported
At Ikogosi, in the hills of Ekiti State, two springs rise close together: one warm, steaming at its source, and one cool. They flow into the same stream, and visitors put a hand in each side to feel the difference where they meet.
Local tradition explains them as two wives of a hunter, or a mother and her children, turned into springs: one with a hot temper, the other calm. The warm water is also said to heal.
Explanations offered
Geologists think the warm water rises from deep underground along a crack in the rock, heated by the Earth, while the cool spring comes from shallow ground water. Water at different temperatures takes time to mix, which is why the two stay apart for a short distance.
- When
- Known for generations
- Where
- Ikogosi, Ekiti, Nigeria
- Witnesses
- Villagers and visitors
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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