Each of us probably heard the saying that there are devils in a quiet pool. This expression perfectly describes Kivu - a lake located in Africa. An unusually beautiful-looking pond is fraught with an incredible danger to the entire Earth. The water in the lake is crystal blue, the banks are overgrown with tropical forests, and every day, at sunset, bird flocks return to their nests. And all this is so beautiful, a spectacular sight causes delight, which lasts until you start thinking about what Kivu is keeping under its waters …
Lake location
Kivu - a lake that is part of the Great African Lakes group, was formed in the Albertin rift. The appearance of the reservoir was provoked by volcanic eruptions that blocked the drain of the ancient river network. Kivu is located in a tectonic basin at an altitude of about one and a half kilometers.
The lake is compared to a time bomb or a time bomb. A huge amount of gas has accumulated in it, which can escape during the first strong earthquake or volcanic explosion. And then all life on our planet may come to an end.
Underwater eruptions take place in the northern region of the reservoir: expanding, the rift valley causes volcanic activity in the nearby region and deepens the lake itself. The extremely rugged, steep shores of the lake remind most travelers of the Norwegian fjords.
It is here today that the border lies between the Republic of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the deepest places, the bottom of Kivu falls almost to 0.5 kilometers.
Water hazard
Kivu is a lake that has one characteristic feature: approximately 150 large islands and small islands are scattered on its surface. The shores of the reservoir are incredibly densely populated. But most of all, the island of Ijvi is inhabited, on which almost 250 thousand people live. A quarter of them are refugees from Rwanda, where inter-ethnic clashes regularly take place. The population of the island and the coast of Kivu is much dependent on the supply of humanitarian aid, as regular crop failures, fires and plant diseases are observed in this territory.
Lake Kivu, by its kind, belongs to meromictric reservoirs in which there is almost no fluid movement between the balls with different levels of mineralization. As a result, the lower balls of water stagnate, and life in them almost completely disappears. Almost 65 km 3 of methane and 256 km 3 of carbon dioxide were collected in the dissolved state at the bottom of the reservoir.
Scientists suggest that it was the composition of the water in Kivu that became the main cause of the ailments of the islanders, the main of which are disorders of the brain and goiter. But the danger is also threatening to all inhabitants of the coastal territory of the reservoir without exception. At any second, a limnological accident is possible - the eruption of gas through the water surface. The release can provoke the mass death of all living things on the territory of many thousands of square kilometers.
According to experts, one of the causes of this disaster will be a volcanic eruption. At the bottom of Kivu, exactly where there is an increased concentration of gases, it will warm the water, after which methane will be released from it. All this will be accompanied by an explosion and the release of an incredible amount of killer carbon dioxide.
What happens to gas
Kivu - the lake, the photo of which you see in the article, is much different from other bodies of water in both temperate and tropical climates. Its main quality can be called the lack of vaporization at the border of air and water. Due to the humidity of the atmosphere above the pond and the elevated temperature, a dense “cushion” of hot steam arises between the air and the liquid, which stops the whirlpool of water molecules. As a result, liquid does not circulate in Kivu, and the gas that accumulates at the bottom of the reservoir does not dissolve.
The lake is fed by warm underwater sources, breaking to the surface through a ball of sedimentary ash and frozen volcanic lava. Under the influence of climatic changes and volcanic activity, the temperature of the springs changes from time to time. But this in no way affects the overall picture. Due to such stability, the gas that accumulates under water is deposited in the form of a dense layer.
The pressure that holds it is also kept at the same level, but any violation of this balance will provoke an explosion of a chemical mixture of carbon dioxide and methane.
Will there be an explosion?
Kivu, a lake in Africa, is regularly examined by scientists. Specifically, they are studying a complex chemical mixture, which lies at the bottom of the reservoir. They cannot give an unambiguous answer whether the accumulated gases will soon erupt on the surface or the lake will remain unchanged for several millennia.
The current situation is complicated by the fact that the region in which Kivu is located is considered to be seismically dangerous, and seismic activity continues here. At the end of the 40s of the last century there was already a volcanic eruption.
An international team of scientists cannot precisely declare exactly when the explosion will occur and what will provoke it. In 2002, at a distance of 18 kilometers from the reservoir, a powerful earthquake destroyed half of the city of Goma in the Congo. But at the bottom of the lake, the gas remained stable.
Interesting facts about the lake
Biologists are sure that Kivu is a lake on the African continent, which is the only body of water that is not inhabited by large predatory animals, including crocodiles. The local population tells travelers the story that in 1948 there was an eruption of the volcano Kituru, which is located next to the lake. Lava got into the pond, which brought the water to a boil, and the fish that lived in it boiled alive. For some time, the inhabitants of this area had to eat this cooked fish floating on the surface of Kivu.
There is a theory according to which, the release of toxic gas can provoke a rare phenomenon - lake tsunami. Its wave will wash away all settlements from the shores of the reservoir.
Three resorts
Kivu, the lake in Africa, the description of which we cited above, is not only a danger. There are also beautiful resort cities, the beauty of which can be admired endlessly. There are three such settlements here:
- Gizeni - the resort is located in the northern region of the lake. Once this city was a colonial bohemian resort, where representatives of the French administration liked to spend vacations.
- Kibuye - a city located south of the previous resort. This is the most charming of all Kivu resorts.
- Shangugu is the southernmost of all resorts on the lake. This is a border town, the former greatness of which is evidenced by the worn-out facades of pompous buildings in the past.
Other assumptions of scientists
Kivu is a lake in Africa (photo above), which has erupted more than once. Scientists have found evidence that in the past gas emissions occurred approximately every thousand years.
If, nevertheless, in our days there will be a limnological catastrophe on Kivu, then its consequences will be simply terrifying: a total of two million people live on its shores. Today, the level of carbon dioxide has not yet reached a critical point, but its content in the reservoir is constantly increasing.
