Ol Doinyo Lengai is one of the eldritch volcanoes on planet Earth , perhaps even in the whole Solar System . While it look distinctive enough from afar , take a peep into its northern crater and you ’ll see it transude with a unique form of pitch-dark lava that ’s comparatively cool and flow like runny motor oil .
Located in the East African Rift of northerly Tanzania , Ol Doinyo Lengai is the only active volcano know to rinse carbon paper - basedlava , known as natrocarbonatite lava . There’ssome evidencethat vent on Venus may have once erupted natrocarbonatite lava too , but this African colossus is the only known manufacturer on Earth ( at least in relatively late times ) .
Mostvolcanoeschurn out lava rich in silicate mineral , making its thawing period over 900 ° C ( 1,652 degree Fahrenheit ) . The lava of Ol Doinyo Lengai contains comparatively little silicon oxide , but has an abundance of carbonate mineral , let the lava to move into a liquid state at just 540 ° C ( 1,004 point Fahrenheit ) .
A bird’s-eye view of Ol Doinyo Lengai taken by an astronaut onboard the International Space Station on 27 November 2024.Image credit: ISS/NASA
The lack of silica makes the lava super viscous . When an eruption hap , it looks more like a spluttering green goddess of fatal motor oil than an oozing track of ruddy - raging lava .
Given the viscosity of its lava , scientists are somewhat surprised the volcano can erupt so violently . Explosive eruptions often occur in other volcanoes because gaseous state bubble can become trap within the gloopy lava . Nevertheless , it ’s clear that Ol Doinyo Lengai can conflagrate with an intense stir of liquidy lava , perhaps becauseit ’s load up with thaw carbon dioxide and other gases , making it effervescent like a fizzy soda ash .
Standing at a high-flown height of 2,962 meters ( 9,718 feet ) , the vent is fortify with two craters , but only its northerly one erupts . Thelatest clap periodbegan in April 2017 and was still bubbling off as of the belated account in March 2024 .
In 2009 , volcanologists collected gas samples from Ol Doinyo Lengai to excavate the understanding behind its singular carbon paper - based lava . interrogatively , they foundthat the make-up of gas pedal was “ undistinguishable ” from those give off along mid - ocean rooftree despite the vent being located inland , far fromdeep - sea mountain chain of mountains .
This launch the investigator to reason out that the unequaled carbon - rich lava was being produce by the melting of mineral in the Earth ’s upper mantle , the chunky bed of careen just beneath the major planet ’s impertinence .
“ The chemistry and isotopic composition of the gases reveal that the CO2is directly sourced from the upper mantlepiece below the East African Rift , " David Hilton , professor of geochemistry at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and joint author of the 2009 paper , say in astatement .
" These mantle gases take into account us to infer the C content of the upper mantelpiece that is produce the carbonatites to be around 300 parts per million , a concentration that is virtually identical to that measured below mid - ocean ridges , " added Hilton .
The East African Rift system upon which Ol Doinyo Lengai sits has been tectonically active for around 25 million year and remains one of the most interesting geologic hot spots in the universe .
Carving down the easterly side of Africa , it ’s efficaciously a giant bout within the African Plate that ’s drifting apart by a few mm per year . In millions upon millions of years , it could eventuallysplit the African continent in half , create a new ocean between East Africa and the persist African Plate .
This diverging shell boundary is responsible for many of the hulk peaks in the neighborhood , includingMount Kilimanjaro , Mount Kenya , and – last but not least – Ol Doinyo Lengai .
