Ol Doinyo Lengai

Basic Facts
Located north of Tanzania and part of
the East African Rift volcanic system.
It is classified as a stratovolcano.
Has a summit elevation of 2890m.
Known as the home of God locally.
Only active volcano known to erupt
carbonatite lava.

Tanzania
A country inEast Africabordered
byKenyaandUgandato the
north,Rwanda,Burundi, and
theDemocratic Republic of the
Congoto the west,
andZambia,Malawi,
andMozambiqueto the south. The
country's eastern border lies on
theIndian Ocean

Geological Background
The cone-building stage of the volcano ended about 15,000
years ago and was followed by periodic ejection of
natrocarbonatitic and nephelinite tephra during the
Holocene. Historical eruptions have consisted of smaller
tephra eruptions and emission of numerous natrocarbonatitic
lava flows on the floor of the summit crater and occasionally
down the upper flanks. The depth and morphology of the
northern crater have changed dramatically during the course
of historical eruptions, ranging from steep crater walls about
200 m deep in the mid-20th century to shallow platforms
mostly filling the crater. Long-term lava effusion in the
summit crater beginning in 1983 had by the turn of the
century mostly filled the northern crater; by late 1998 lava
had begun overflowing the crater rim.

Nature of Eruption
Unlike other volcanoes, which spew
silica-rich basalts, Ol Doinyo Lengai is
the only active volcano on Earth that
erupts with a carbonatite, a type of
igneous rock rich in carbonates such
as calcite and dolomite. Usually
carbonatites are intruded into other
formations and rarely reach Earth's
surface as eruptions.

Carbonatite Lava
Carbonatite is literally the coolest lava on earth,
erupting at 500-600 degrees Centigrade.
Freshly cooled flows in the crater of Ol Doinyo
Lengai are black but soon turn white because of
chemical reactions that occur as the lava
absorbs water. In rainy weather, this color
change can occur before the flows are cold.
Within a few months of erupting, lava flows turn
into a brown powder due to water absorption.
Contains very little silica as compared to the
more common basaltic magma.

Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3
Ck4q1d2-XE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?fea
ture=endscreen&NR=1&v=JjLDfesA0N
0

Pyroclastic flows
Also known as nuees ardentes, these are
responsible for most of the dangers caused.
Pyroclastic bursts surge downhill with a
heavy load of lava fragments, crystals, ash,
pumice and glass.
As the surrounding areas of Oldinoyo Lengai
are sparsely populated, pyroclastic flows
are more dangerous to livestocks and
properties as compared to humans.
Water contamination

Air-fall Tephra

Lava Flows
On 30 March 2006 some quite powerful activity
began in the summit crater, which led to the
movement of people from nearby villages, and
to news headings and stories such as Villagers
flee as volcano erupts (IPP Media 1 April 2006)
The only active volcano in Tanzania burst into
flames at least six villages occupied mostly
by nomadic Maasai herdsmen were rocked by
red-hot landslide, spewing scalding fumes and
lava covering a big area on the mountain
slopes (AfricaNews 26 April 2006)

Tremors
Volcanic activity in the mountain
caused dailyearth tremorsin Kenya
and Tanzania beginning on July 12,
2007. The latest to hit parts
ofNairobicity was recorded on July
18, 2007 at 8.30pm (Kenyan Time).
The strongest tremor measured 6.0
on theRichter scale. Geologists
suspected that the sudden increase
of tremors was indicative of the

Volcanic Gases
Released by explosive eruption, carbon
dioxide (CO2) is the second-most
abundant gas that issues from Oldoinyo
Lengai
Odorless, invisible, and heavier than air,
CO2 accumulates in low-lying areas,
where it may reach toxic concentrations.
Asphyxiation occurs without warning.
Fortunately, winds disperse the gas safely
across most of the summits active crater.

Problems
Eruptions life pretty difficultwhen
the ash and rocksrained downon
nearby Masai villages like Naiyobi,
seen in this image. The villages were
evacuated for a while. When people
returned they found their water
fouled and many grazing lands
unusable -- a hard blow for people
who depend on their cattle for their
living.

Problems
Currently, the volcano has no
monitoring of earthquakes,
deformation or gases.And the rainy
season which is coming up for May
through October, rains will cause and
trigger mudflows and flash floods.

Hazard Management

Foreign Technical Assistance

Disaster Management Levels
Village level evacuation
Lack of monitoring
Sparse population to control

Effectiveness

Bibliography
http://
my.opera.com/nielsol/blog/crater-highlands-tanzania
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ol_Doinyo_Lengai
http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/lengai.html
http://
dsc.discovery.com/earth/slideshows/tanzania-volcano/ol-d
oinyo-lengai-07.html
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2159
http://www.tanzania.go.tz/government/disaster.htm#vill
http://blogs.stlawu.edu/lengai/activity-2008 /
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0301/feature2 /
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanzania