14 DAY TRIAL // A paper published earlier this month in the journal Geophysical Research Letters tells the tale of how, not long ago, a lava lake sprung into being atop an active volcano in Africa.
The lava lake, a photo of which is included in the gallery below, formed atop the Nyamuragira volcano in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is fueled by lava fountains and the air around it is saturated with toxic compounds.
A fairly rare sight
As detailed by Live Science, the Nyamuragira volcano in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of Africa's most active. Still, it appears that it's been about 75 years since a lava lake last formed atop it.
Scientists who have taken the time to study the odd appearance say that, for the time being, this lava lake is fairly small. Still, it's pretty restless. Thus, this fiery lake atop the Nyamuragira volcano is said to be forever bubbling.
Writing in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, scientists explain the lava comprising this lake sits at the bottom of a crater measuring about 1,650 feet (approximately 500 meters) in depth. Its home is the summit's North Pit Crater.
Interestingly enough, it appears that, due to volcanic activity in the area, the lake sometimes vanishes from sight only to be born again just hours, sometimes even minutes later. Specialists say that, in time, the lake stands to become a permanent one.
“It disappears and reappears, but if the current activity continues, we will probably have a lava lake like we have at [neighboring volcano] Nyiragongo within a few years to decades,” researcher Benoit Smets with the European Center for Geodynamics and Seismology in Luxembourg said in a statement.
This new lava lake in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is believed to have come into being sometime in 2012, following a volcanic eruption. The reason it took scientists this long to document its presence is that the region is pretty much drowning in clouds of toxic gas.
Scientists expected this lake to form
Writing in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, scientist Benoit Smets and fellow researchers say that, ever since the Nyamuragira volcano erupted with powerful explosions and earthquakes back in November 2011, they expected this lake to form.
Thus, they suspected that this eruption proved this violent because of a collapse and expected lava to eventually build up in the resulting crater. As Benoit Smets put it, “We felt this was the first sign of a future lava lake.”
