|
|
 | 
Lava fountains from Nyamuragira during the eruption in 2004 (Photo courtesy: B. Edmaier)
|
| 
The flat silhouette of Nyamuragira shield volcano, seen from Nyiragongo
|
Nyamuragira, a large shield volcano similar to Mauna Loa on Hawai'i, is one of Africa's most active volcanoes. Every few years, it produces eruptions often from radial fissures emitting lava fountains and large, fluid lava flows travelling many kilometers into the scarsely populated area of tropical forest and farmland surrounding it. |
|
|
Volcano type |
shield volcano |
|
|
Location |
DR Kongo (Zaire), 1.408°S / 29.20°E |
|
|
Summit elevation |
3058 m (10,033 ft) |
|
|
Last eruptions |
1865, 1882, 1894, 1896, 1899, 1901, 1902, 1904, 1905, 1906(?), 1907, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1912-13, 1920, 1921-38, 1938-40, 1948, 1951, 1951-52, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1967, 1971, 1976-77, 1980, 1981-82, 1984, 1986, 1987-88, 1989, 1991-93, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010 |
|
|
Typical eruption style |
Large effusive eruptions (Hawaiian style) |
|
Background:Nyamuragira is Africa's and one of the world's most active volcano. It erupts roughly every two years, producing large fluid lava flows.
Nyamuragira is is a massive high-potassium basaltic shield volcano located about 25 km north of Lake Kivu in the East African Rift Valley NW of Nyiragongo volcano. It has a volume of 500 cubic km, and extensive lava flows from the volcano blanket 1500 square km of the East African Rift, some lava flows having travelled more than 30 km from the summit. The broad shield volcano, 3058 m high, has a summit caldera, about 2 km wide and walls up to about 100 m high. During some eruptions, a lava lake is contained within the caldera. As typical for shield volcanoes, it has both eruptions inside the summit caldera and from extensive rift zones on the flanks, producing numerous fissures and cinder cones.
|
|
