Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano in Tanzania has been steadily sinking into the ground for the past 10 years, a new study shows, and the cause could be a deflating reservoir directly beneath one of the volcano’s two craters.
- The volcano sits along an active rift zone in East Africa, subsided at a rate of 1.4 inches (3.6 centimeters) per year between 2013 and 2023.
- Ol Doinyo Lengai is the only known volcano on Earth that is actively erupting carbonatite magma — extremely runny magma that is saturated with alkali elements, such as calcium and sodium, and poor in silica.
- Most terrestrial magmas are rich in silica.
- Carbonatite lava weathers differently than silicate lava due to its chemical makeup, Klemetti wrote.
- Calcium and carbon dioxide in the lava combine to make calcite and other carbonate minerals, which break down quickly in the presence of water or humidity. This means that although the lava is black or dark gray when it erupts, it quickly turns white once it dries.
