Lake Nyos in Cameroon - only for extreme tourists

Lake Nyos in Cameroon was formed just 400 years ago as a result of a hydrothermal explosion, when magma burst from the abyss met with groundwater. This part of the country is occupied by a volcanic mountain range. A new lake filled the formed crater. For a long time the volcano was considered extinct. Despite the wonderful views that open from the shores of this high-mountain pond, tourists rarely looked here. Only a few villages were located near the lake, which is more than a thousand meters above sea level.

The situation changed in 1986. About the relatively small (1400 meters in length and 900 in width), the lake in Cameroon was spoken by the whole world. At the end of August, almost all residents of the villages of Fang, Cha, Subum and Nios died overnight. There were no pets, no birds, not even insects. Even the vegetation along the banks of the reservoir became brown and seemed frozen. Scientists called the event a "limnological catastrophe," and ordinary people began to call Nyos "a killer lake." So what happened on that fatal evening on August 21,.

On the bodies of more than 1,500 dead, as well as eight hundred wounded, blisters were recorded. This gave rise to researchers to assume that the volcano revived. But the reality was much more interesting. Lake Nyos in Cameroon is truly volcanic, and carbon dioxide continues to flow from its crater and other microscopic cracks into its waters . It accumulates in the bottom layers. Analysis of water extracted from the depths showed that immediately after the disaster, it was supersaturated with CO ₂ , methane and helium. But the lion's share of toxic gases (96%) was still carbon dioxide.

At the end of summer in this area is the rainy season. Most likely, cold and dense water, brought by precipitation and numerous streams, overflowed Lake Nyos. It was so much that it completely covered the surface of the water area, forming a surface layer. In the depths, the warm waters saturated with poisonous gas rested. The difference in the density of the layers was the trigger, which triggered a catastrophic chemical reaction. In the evening of August 21, a strong north wind blew up, which drove rainwater to the south. The newly opened bottom layers immediately began to release gas. We see such a reaction by uncorking a bottle Ku with soda. Only the scale of what was happening was much larger.

As a result, the lake Nyos in Cameroon has been shrouded in fog. The gas that escaped to freedom absorbed energy, as a result of which the air temperature dropped to ten degrees in a matter of seconds. The bubbles were so huge that they gave birth to a small tsunami that flooded the southern regions. And in the north a cold poisonous fog crept across the valleys, carrying death to all living things.

Now the lake Nyos in Cameroon looks pretty nice and picturesque. But tourists come here only one category. These are the ones who like to tickle your nerves. After all, the new measurements of water, made in 1992, showed that CO ₂ again began to flow into the bottom layers of the lake. Who knows how the natural conditions will develop, and will the lethal chemical process start in the near future?