Most of us will never get up close and personal with a volcano or its lava, and honestly, I think that’s a good thing.
If you were to see a volcano erupt, you would probably expect to see the hot red spew flying out of the top.
If you were visiting this volcano, though, you would be surprised (and maybe disappointed).
Because Ol Doinyo Lengai spews lava that’s black and watery – and scientists still don’t really understand why.
The 9,718-foot-tall volcano is located in Tanzania and is part of the East African Rift. Tectonic activity has been present there for the past 25 million years.
It’s the only volcano on Earth that erupts carbonate lava, which in addition to its black color and watery texture, has a low melting point.
Every other volcano erupts silicate lava, which is thick and has a melting temperature of more than 1,652 degrees Fahrenheit.
Because the carbonate lava is thinner, gas bubbles that burst in silicate lava pass right through, so the fact that Ol Doinyo Lengai has eruptions at all is part of the mystery.
To be fair, it does typically sort of boil over like a cooking pot rather than shoot impressively into the air.
In 2007, though, it erupted with enough force to create a new crater, 985-feet wide. It continued to explode into 2008 before it finally calmed down again.
Scientists believe the newly-formed crater is sinking – it’s sunk around 1.4 inches over the course of a decade.
The researchers believe this could be caused by a deflating magma reservoir “less than one kilometer deep below the summit.”
A summit deformation like this can lead to “catastrophic collapse,” so they are continuing to monitor the situation.
Not that I imagine they can do much, if anything, to prevent it.
If you think that’s impressive, check out this story about a “goldmine” of lithium that was found in the U.S. that could completely change the EV battery game.