Ol Doinyo Lengai Volcano
Updated: 19 apr. 2024 16:46 GMT -
Stratovolcano 2890 m
Tanzania, -2.75°S / 35.9°E
Current status: minor activity or eruption warning (3 out of 5)
Tanzania, -2.75°S / 35.9°E
Current status: minor activity or eruption warning (3 out of 5)
Last update: 10 dic 2021 (effusion of natrocarbonatite lava inside the pit crater in the northern main crater)
Erupting hornito at Lengai volcano
Ol Doinyo Lengai, a symmetrical, steep classical stratovolcano rises majestically about 2000m from the East Africal Rift Valley depression to a summit elevation of 2890 m. To the Maassai people, it is home of God, which is also the meaning of the name. Ol Doinyo Lengai is the only active volcano that erupts natrocarbonatite lava.
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Eruzioni del vulcano Ol Doinyo Lengai: 1550 BC (?), 50 AD (?), 700 AD (?), 1350 (?), 1880, 1882, 1904, 1907, 1914, 1916, 1921, 1926, 1940, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1960, 1967, 1983, 1994, 2006, 2007-ongoing
Latest nearby earthquakes
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Background
Ol Doinyo Lengai is an extremely fascinating volcano: it is the only active volcano known to erupt carbonatite lava, a sensational discovery scientists made as recently as in the 1960s: the lavas it erupts are NOT melts based on silica, but on natroncarbonate!Thus, the temperatures of these lavas are much lower, "only" about 600 deg. C., and Lengai's lava does not emit enough light to glow during day,- only at night, a dull reddish glow that does not illuminate anything is visible. Also because of its peculiar chemical composition, the lava is extremely fluid and behaves very much like water, with the exception that it is black like oil. After it is cooled down it quickly alters and becomes a whitish powder.
Geologically, the present-day cone of the volcano was constructed about 15,000 years ago. Historical eruptions have been moderate to small explosive events. In addition to its intermittent explosive activity at intervals of typically years or decades, numerous natrocarbonitite lava flows have been erupted from vents on the floor of the active summit crater.
The depth and morphology of the active (northern) crater have changed dramatically during the course of historical eruptions, ranging from steep craters 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 uptill today lava had begun overflowing the crater rim.
Ol Doinyo Lengai Volcano Photos
Il maestoso cono del vulcano Ol Doinyo Lengai e il pascolo ai suoi piedi visto dalla NE. L'alto hornito T49b nel suo attivo cra... (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)
Ol Doinyo Lengai stratovulcano visto dalla Highlands Ngorongoro a Empakai cratere. Il hornito alto nel suo cratere attivo (a sinistra sid ... (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)
Ol Doinyo Lengai stratovulcano visto da Empakai cratere. Il hornito alto nel suo cratere attivo (sul lato sinistro) a soli picchi fuori in vista .... (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer...
La piatta pianura della Rift Valley sotto Ol Doinyo Lengai, attraversata da erosione calanchi. Un piccolo Maasai boma (= agglomerato di capanne) in th... (Photo: Tom Pfei...
Eruzioni del vulcano Ol Doinyo Lengai
Activity in 2010 - natrocarbonatite flows on the crater bootom
Similarly to previous phases, new natrocarbonatite lava is being erupted from vents at the bottom of the new crater. If this activity continues, it might once again fill the crater.
Similarly to previous phases, new natrocarbonatite lava is being erupted from vents at the bottom of the new crater. If this activity continues, it might once again fill the crater.
Latest satellite images
Ol Doinyo Lengai Volcano Tours
Crater Highlands & Rift Valley (Tanzania)
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Price $ 4100
Price $ 4100
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