Ol Doinyo Lengai - the coldest active volcano in the world

Ol Doinyo Lengai (Ol Doinyo Lengai) - an active stratovolcano in East Africa. In the language of the local Maasai tribe name of the volcano means "Mountain of God." It is the only volcano in the world, whose lava erupts at 500 degrees Celsius.

Located in the north of Tanzania near Lake Natron and is part of the volcanic system of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. Altitude - 2962 m. It consists of basalt and phonolite ancient Pleistocene time. While most lavas rich silicate minerals, lava Ol Doinyo Lengai is a carbonate. Because of this unusual structure lava breaks at relatively low temperatures of about 500-600 degrees Celsius. This temperature is so low that molten lava looks black in the sunlight, not red, like most lavas. Unusual eruptions Ol Doinyo Lengai driven out ash and carbonate which on contact with moisture in the air is converted into sodium carbonate, and what seems to be snow on the top of the volcano, in fact - a whitish ash. Active volcano - eruptions were recorded in 1917, 1924, 1940, 1954, 1955, 1966, 2007-2008, 2010.


































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