Last month UNESCO reviewed their list of world heritage sites. I am pleased to say that Virunga National Park kept its status as one of the most important natural sites in the world, although it remains on the list of sites in danger . We often talk about the wildlife that makes the park so important, but UNESCO also notes the geological features as critical criteria for their assessment:
“Virunga National Park is situated at the heart of the Albertine Rift sector of the Great Rift Valley. In the southern section of the park, tectonic activity resulting from crustal extension of this area gave rise to the Virunga Massif, composed of eight volcanoes, of which seven are situated or partly situated in the park. These include Africa’s two most active volcanoes, Nyamuragira and the neighbouring Nyiragongo, which alone account for two-fifths of the historical volcanic eruptions on the African continent. They are especially notable because of their highly fluid alkaline lavas. The activity of Nyiragongo is globally significant for its demonstration of lava lake volcanism, with a quasi-permanent lava lake at the bottom of its crater, periodic draining of which has been catastrophic to the local communities.”
Unfortunately at the moment the insecurity around the Nyiragongo means that it isn’t possible to visit the crater. It is a real shame: as you can see from this news report from last year, it is an amazing sight to see and a natural wonder we must respect with caution:
3 Responses to “Virunga Volcanoes Very Volatile”
Nyiragongo volcano is a jewel and a threait all together; but it’s also a frighten next-door neighbour thing to us.
frighten next-door neighbour thing to us.
[...] is some time-lapse footage of the Nyiragongo volcano as seen from Bukima, 27 kilometers away: // Upload this to Facebook We need your grant to [...]