Lake Nyos disaster explained

Lake Nyos disaster
Location:Lake Nyos
Place:Cameroon
Type:Limnic eruption
Fatalities:1,746

On 21 August 1986, a limnic eruption at Lake Nyos in northwestern Cameroon killed 1,746 people and 3,500 livestock.[1]

The eruption triggered the sudden release of about 100,000–300,000 tons (1.6 million tons, according to some sources) of carbon dioxide (CO2).[2] [3] The gas cloud initially rose at nearly 100km/h and then, being heavier than air, descended onto nearby villages, suffocating people and livestock within of the lake.[4] [5]

A degassing system has since been installed at the lake, with the aim of reducing the concentration of in the waters and therefore the risk of further eruptions. Along with the Lake Monoun disaster two years earlier, it is one of only two recorded limnic eruptions in history.[6]

Eruption and gas release

What triggered the catastrophic outgassing is not known.[7] [8] Most geologists suspect a landslide, but some believe that a small volcanic eruption may have occurred on the bed of the lake.[9] [10] A third possibility is that cool rainwater falling on one side of the lake triggered the overturn. Others still believe there was a small earthquake, but because witnesses did not report feeling any tremors on the morning of the disaster, this hypothesis is unlikely. The event resulted in the supersaturated deep water rapidly mixing with the upper layers of the lake, where the reduced pressure allowed the stored to effervesce out of solution.[11]

It is believed that about 1.2km3 of gas was released.[12] The normally blue waters of the lake turned a deep red after the outgassing, due to iron-rich water from the deep rising to the surface and being oxidised by the air. The level of the lake dropped by about a metre[13] and trees near the lake were knocked down.[14]

Scientists concluded from evidence that a column of water and foam formed at the surface of the lake, spawning a wave of at least that swept the shore on one side.[15]

Since carbon dioxide is 1.5 times the density of air, the cloud hugged the ground and moved down the valleys, where there were various villages. The mass was about 50metres thick, and travelled downward at 20km/h50km/h. For roughly, the gas cloud was concentrated enough to suffocate many people in their sleep in the villages of Nyos, Kam, Cha, and Subum.[4] About 4,000 inhabitants fled the area, and many of these developed respiratory problems, lesions, and paralysis as a result of the gas cloud.[16]

It is a possibility that other volcanic gases were released along with the, as some survivors reported a smell of gunpowder or rotten eggs, which indicates that sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide were present at concentrations above their odour thresholds. However, was the only gas detected in samples of lake water, suggesting that this was the predominant gas released and as such the main cause of the incident.[16]

Effects on survivors

Reporters in the area described the scene as "looking like the aftermath of a neutron bomb."[17] One survivor, Joseph Nkwain from Subum, described himself when he awoke after the gases had struck:[18] Following the eruption, many survivors were treated at the main hospital in Yaoundé, the country's capital. It was believed that many of the victims had been poisoned by sulphur-based gases. Poisoning by these gases would lead to burning pains in the eyes and nose, coughing and signs of asphyxiation similar to being strangled.[19]

Interviews with survivors and pathologic studies indicated that victims rapidly lost consciousness and that death was caused by asphyxiation.[20] At nonlethal levels, can produce sensory hallucinations, such that many people exposed to report the odor of sulfuric compounds when none are present. Skin lesions found on survivors represent pressure sores, and in a few cases exposure to a heat source, but there is no evidence of chemical burns or of flash burns from exposure to hot gases.

De-gassing

The scale of the disaster led to much study on how a recurrence could be prevented.[21] Several researchers proposed the installation of degassing columns from rafts in the middle of the lake.[22] [23] The principle is to slowly vent the by lifting heavily saturated water from the bottom of the lake through a pipe, initially by using a pump, but only until the release of gas inside the pipe naturally lifts the column of effervescing water, making the process self-sustaining.[24]

Starting from 1995, feasibility studies were successfully conducted, and the first permanent degassing tube was installed at Lake Nyos in 2001. Two additional pipes were installed in 2011.[24] [25] In 2019 it was determined that the degassing had reached an essentially steady state and that a single one of the installed pipes would be able to self-sustain the degassing process into the future, indefinitely maintaining the at a safe level, without any need for external power.[26]

Similar danger suspected at Lake Kivu

Following the Lake Nyos disaster, scientists investigated other African lakes to see if a similar phenomenon could happen elsewhere. In 2005, Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2,000 times larger than Lake Nyos, was also found to be supersaturated, and geologists found evidence that outgassing events around the lake happened about every thousand years.[27]

However, a study undertaken in 2018 and released in 2020 found flaws in the 2005 study, including a possible bias in the conversion of concentrations to partial pressures, to an overestimation of concentrations, or to a problem of calibration of sensors at high pressure. The 2020 study found that when these errors were accounted for, the risk of a gas eruption at Lake Kivu did not seem to be increasing over time.[28]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hammond . Trevor . 2018-08-01 . Lake Nyos Disaster: August 21, 1986 . 2021-04-14 . Fishwrap . 10 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221010002144/https://blog.newspapers.com/lake-nyos-disaster-august-21-1986/ . live .
  2. Socolow . Robert H. . Robert H. Socolow . July 2005 . Can We Bury Global Warming? . . 293 . 1 . 49–55 . 2005SciAm.293a..49S . 10.1038/scientificamerican0705-49 . 0036-8733 . 26061071 . 16008301 . subscription.
  3. Mathew Fomine . Forka Leypey . 2011 . The Strange Lake Nyos CO2 Gas Disaster . Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies . 2011-1 . 1174-4707 . 2016-02-04 . 4 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054010/http://www.massey.ac.nz/~trauma/issues/2011-1/fomine.htm . live .
  4. Web site: Camp . Vic . 2006-03-31 . Lake Nyos (1986) . https://web.archive.org/web/20081221180046/https://geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Nyos.html . 2008-12-21 . 2008-12-19 . San Diego State University.
  5. Smolowe . Jill . Phillips . B. J. . 1986-09-08 . Cameroon the Lake of Death . . 128 . 10 . 34–37 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090227160526/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C962228-1%2C00.html . 2009-02-27 . 2013-12-09.
  6. Ohba, Takeshi, et al. "A Depression Containing CO2-Enriched Water at the Bottom of Lake Monoun, Cameroon, and Implications for the 1984 Limnic Eruption." Frontiers in Earth Science, vol. 10, May 2022, p. 766791. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.766791.
  7. Cotel . Aline J. . March 1999 . A trigger mechanism for the Lake Nyos disaster . . 88 . 4 . 343–347 . 1999JVGR...88..343C . 10.1016/s0377-0273(99)00017-7 . 0377-0273.
  8. Rouwet . Dmitri . Tanyileke . Greg . Costa . Antonio . 2016-07-12 . Cameroon's Lake Nyos Gas Burst: 30 Years Later . . 97 . 10.1029/2016eo055627 . 0096-3941 . 2324-9250 . free . 18 February 2022 . 18 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220218184906/https://eos.org/science-updates/cameroons-lake-nyos-gas-burst-30-years-later . live .
  9. Rice . A . April 2000 . Rollover in Volcanic Crater Lakes: A Possible Cause for Lake Nyos Type Disasters . . 97 . 1–4 . 233–239 . 2000JVGR...97..233R . 10.1016/s0377-0273(99)00179-1 . 0377-0273 . 18 February 2022 . 18 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220218184908/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0377027399001791 . live .
  10. Book: Aka . Festus Tongwa . Depth of Melt Segregation Below the Nyos Maar-Diatreme Volcano (Cameroon, West Africa): Major-Trace Element Evidence and Their Bearing on the Origin of CO2 in Lake Nyos . Volcanic Lakes . 2015-03-03 . . 978-3642368325 . Advances in Volcanology . 467–488 . 10.1007/978-3-642-36833-2_21.
  11. Kusakabe . Minoru . Ohsumi . Takashi . Aramaki . Shigeo . November 1989 . The Lake Nyos gas disaster: chemical and isotopic evidence in waters and dissolved gases from three Cameroonian crater lakes, Nyos, Monoun and Wum . . 39 . 2–3 . 167–185 . 1989JVGR...39..167K . 10.1016/0377-0273(89)90056-5 . 0377-0273 . 18 February 2022 . 18 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220218184904/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0377027389900565 . live .
  12. Web site: Alex . 2007-05-21 . The Strangest Disaster of the 20th Century . https://web.archive.org/web/20110929141346/http://www.neatorama.com/2007/5/21/the-strangest-disaster-of-the-20th-century/ . 2011-09-29 . 2010-06-20 . Neatorama.
  13. Web site: 2009-11-13 . Gas cloud kills Cameroon villagers . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231231080212/https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/gas-cloud-kills-cameroon-villagers . 2023-12-31 . 2023-12-31 . HISTORY . . en.
  14. DISASTER RISK IN THE LAKE NYOS AREA, CAMEROON: EFFECTS OF THE GAS HAZARD AND SOCIALLY PRODUCED VULNERABILITY . https://web.archive.org/web/20231231084747/https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1879&context=etdr . 2023-12-31 . live . Michigan Technological University . Houghton, Michigan . Master of Science in Geology . 10.37099/mtu.dc.etdr/758 . 134744487 . . en . Mary . Witucki . 2023-12-31 . 1150782660 . 2018 . free . PDF.
  15. News: Brown . David . 2000-02-01 . Scientists hope to quiet Cameroon's killer lakes . . . 2008-12-19 . 14 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220814002548/https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20000201&slug=4002291 . live .
  16. Baxtor . Peter J. . Kapila . M. . Mfonfu . D. . 1989-05-27 . Lake Nyos disaster, Cameroon, 1986: the medical effects of large scale emission of carbon dioxide? . . 298 . 6685 . 1437–1441 . 10.1136/bmj.298.6685.1437 . 0959-8138 . 1756-1833 . 29704127 . 1836556 . 2502283 . free . 18 February 2022 . 18 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220218184904/https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/298/6685/1437.full.pdf . live .
  17. News: DeYoung . Karen . 1986-08-27 . Cameroon Toll above 1500 . . Yaounde, Cameroon . 29 May 2021 . 11 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210211051057/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/19/AR2006071901345.html?nav=rss_world/africa . live .
  18. A. Scarth. USGS, 1999.
  19. News: 1986-08-21 . Hundreds gassed in Cameroon lake disaster . . 2008-12-19 . 24 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171024200736/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/21/newsid_3380000/3380803.stm . live .
  20. Kling . George W. . Clark . Michael A. . Compton . Harry R. . Devine . Joseph D. . Evans . William C. . Humphrey . Alan M. . Koenigsberg . Edward J. . Lockwood . John P. . Tuttle . Michele L. . Wagner . Glen N. . 1987-04-10 . The 1986 Lake Nyos Gas Disaster in Cameroon, West Africa . . 236 . 4798 . 169–175 . 1987Sci...236..169K . 10.1126/science.236.4798.169 . 1698383 . 17789781 . 40896330 . 14 June 2022 . 5 June 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220605192941/https://zenodo.org/record/1230976 . live .
  21. Kling . George W. . Evans . William C. . Tanyileke . Greg . Kusakabe . Minoru . Ohba . Takeshi . Yoshida . Yutaka . Hell . Joseph V. . 2005-10-04 . Degassing Lakes Nyos and Monoun: Defusing certain disaster . . 102 . 40 . 14185–14190 . 10.1073/pnas.0502274102 . free . 3376714 . 1242283 . 16186504 . Carpenter . Stephen R. -->.
  22. Halbwachs . Michel . Sabroux . Jean-Christophe . 2001-04-20 . Removing from Lake Nyos in Cameroon . . 292 . 5516 . 438 . 10.1126/science.292.5516.438a . 0036-8075 . 3082763 . 11330293 . 37879846 . 18 February 2022 . 18 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220218184908/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.292.5516.438a . live .
  23. Schmid . Martin . Halbwachs . Michel . Wüest . Alfred . 2006-06-01 . Simulation of concentrations, temperature, and stratification in Lake Nyos for different degassing scenarios . Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems . 7 . 6 . 1–14 . 2006GGG.....7.6019S . 10.1029/2005GC001164 . 135335849 . 1525-2027 . 10 December 2019 . 17 August 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200817224544/https://www.dora.lib4ri.ch/eawag/islandora/object/eawag%3A5288 . live . free .
  24. Web site: Halbwachs . Michel . Grangeon . Jacques . Sabroux . Jean-Christophe . Wong . Brice . c. 2001 . Degassing Lake Nyos project . mhalb.pagesperso-orange.fr . 1 January 2022 . 1 December 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211201011633/https://mhalb.pagesperso-orange.fr/nyos/nyos.htm . live .

    Web site: January February 2001 expedition . pagesperso-orange.fr/mhalb . 2016-08-22 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090206142144/http://pagesperso-orange.fr/mhalb/nyos/2000/index2000.htm . 2009-02-06 .

  25. Web site: Le degazage du lac Nyos . Cité des sciences et de l'industrie – Paris: Expositions, conférences, cinémas, activités culturelles et sorties touristiques pour les enfants, les parents, les familles . Science Actualités – Ressources . Universcience.fr . fr . 2012-10-17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120103144659/http://www.universcience.fr/fr/science-actualites/film-as/wl/1248122455252/le-degazage-du-lac-nyos . 2012-01-03.
  26. Halbwachs . Michel . Sabroux . Jean-Christophe . Kayser . Gaston . 2020 . Final step of the 32 year Lake Nyos degassing adventure: Natural recharge is to be balanced by discharge through the degassing pipes . . 167 . 103575 . 2020JAfES.16703575H . 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2019.103575 . free . 1464-343X.
  27. Schmid . Martin . Halbwachs . Michel . Wehrli . Bernhard . Wüest . Alfred . July 2005 . Weak mixing in Lake Kivu: New insights indicate increasing risk of uncontrolled gas eruption . Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems . 6 . 7 . Q07009 . 10.1029/2004GC000892 . 2005GGG.....6.7009S . 67818415 . 14 June 2022 . 25 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210725215621/https://www.dora.lib4ri.ch/eawag/islandora/object/eawag%3A5020 . live . free .
  28. Bärenbold . Fabian . Boehrer . Bertram . Grilli . Roberto . Mugisha . Ange . von Tümpling . Wolf . Umutoni . Augusta . Schmid . Martin . No Increasing Risk of a Limnic Eruption at Lake Kivu: Intercomparison Study Reveals Gas Concentrations Close to Steady State . . 25 August 2020 . 15 . 8 . 11 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0237836 . 32841245 . 7446963 . 2020PLoSO..1537836B . 221325800 . free .

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