Nyamuragira, also known as Nyamulagira, is an active shield volcano in the Virunga Mountains of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, situated about north of

Lake Kivu Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, whic ...

. The name is derived from the Bantu verb ''Kuragira nyamu'', meaning to '' herd animals''; ''nyamu'' means ''animal'' or ''cows''. It has been described as Africa's most active volcano and has erupted over 40 times since 1885. As well as eruptions from the summit, there have been numerous eruptions from the flanks of the volcano, creating new smaller volcanoes that have lasted only for a short time (e.g. Murara from late 1976 to 1977). Recent eruptions occurred on 2 January 2010, 8 November 2011 and 23 May 2021.

Geography and geology

Nyamuragira volcano is an active volcano near the city of

Goma Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the ...

in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, situated about north of Lake Kivu. It is in the Nord-Kivu Province. It is north-north-west of Nyiragongo, the volcano which caused extensive damage to the city of Goma in its 2002 eruption. Nyamuragira has a volume of , and covers an area of . It has a low shield profile and contrasts with adjacent steep-sided Nyiragongo volcano. TOMS SO2 time nov03

Nyamuragira volcano is responsible for a large portion of the sulfur dioxide released into the atmosphere by volcanoes. Nyiragongo - PIA03339

Recent activity

2010 eruption

At dawn on 2 January 2010 Nyamuragira began spewing out lava flows. There are no settlements close to the volcano, but wildlife officials feared that the eruption may threaten the

chimpanzees The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

in the area. Another danger was that the lava could have flowed into the southern sector of

Virunga National Park , iucn_category = II , iucn_ref = , location = Democratic Republic of the Congo , map = Democratic Republic of the Congo , relief = 1 , coordinates = , area = , established = , nearest_city = Goma , photo =Virunga National Park-107997 ...

, where there are settlements and villages. Extensive lava flows from the 2010 eruption can be seen on satellite photographs reaching south-west to Lake Kivu, about north-west and north-north-east.

2011 eruption

The volcano erupted again on 5 November 2011. That eruption produced a high column of lava, and it is said to have been its largest eruption in 100 years.

2014 lava lake

In 2014, a new lava lake appeared at the volcano for the first time in 75 years. The previous lava lake at the volcano was emptied in the 1938 lava flow. The formation of the new lake occurred between June and August 2014. It reached a depth of }. The eruption did not affect the communities in the area but left a lot of ash and air pollution. Sulfate aerosols formed by volcanic sulfur dioxide from the eruptions were observed as far away as over the central Amazon rain forest in South America. By 2018, the lava lake had hardened and the activity appeared to have stopped. Eruptive activity continues during 2021 at the summit caldera.

2021 lava lake

In 2021, a lava lake appeared at the volcano based on a June 11 satellite image.

References

External links

Nyamuragira Volcano

Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program: Nyamuragira

2006 eruption

"Congo volcano threat to villages" BBC report with video, 2010 eruption

* ttp://www.volcanodiscovery.com/nyamuragira/news.html VolcanoDiscovery news {{DEFAULTSORT:Nyamuragira Polygenetic shield volcanoes Active volcanoes Virunga Mountains Volcanoes of the Great Rift Valley Mountains of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Volcanoes of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Lake Kivu