The Lake Nyos disaster in Cameron wasn’t the only time lake overturn killed residents of the country. The investigation into Lake Nyos revealed that a landslide sparked the explosion when rocks pierced through to the bottom layer and displaced the water. The water layers of a limnically active lake can be displaced due to a number of reasons, including seismic or volcanic activity. The limnic eruption occurs when the different layers of water in the lake are disrupted. If the water saturated with carbon dioxide were to stay in place on the lakebed, there would be no problem. The CO2 is trapped in the deepest levels of the lake, held down by the warmer layers of water. The volcanic action releases carbon dioxide, or CO2, into the lake bottom through fissures. How could an ordinary lake suddenly turn violently deadly? The answer is a rare natural phenomenon called limnic eruption, otherwise known as lake overturn.Ī limnically active lake is a body of water located near volcanos. That night, 1,746 people around Lake Nyos died from breathing carbon dioxide. What they didn’t know, unfortunately, was that toxic gas was accompanying the fountain of water. The residents of the three villages on the shores of the lake stepped outside to investigate and saw a tall plume of water from Lake Nyos. Late that night, according to the few people who survived to tell the tale, a low, rumbling sound emitted from the lake. On August 26, 1986, the normally tranquil, blue water of Lake Nyos in the West Africa country of Cameroon unexpectedly turned deadly.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |