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Cyclic gas bursts: are they a ‘usual’ feature of Lake Nyos and other gas-bearing lakes?

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Natural Hazards in West and Central Africa

Part of the book series: International Monograph Series ((EES))

Abstract

The physical conditions in Lake Nyos and other stratified lakes, which are charged from below with gas, favour the creation of gas accumulations in solution in lake water. If in the case of strong stratification the gas influx rate is higher than its transport rate through the stratification to the surface, a hazardous situation will build up. It is then inevitable that gas bursts will take place, normally as “fountain-limnic eruptions”. They may or may not be disastrous. Water stratification will survive these bursts in a modified form. Thus, cyclic gas bursts of this kind are in a sense pre-programmed, probably with a ‘stochastic’ frequency. This particular hazard, which comes on top of other hazards associated with zones of crustal weakness, can only be eliminated by controlled degassing of these lakes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Stilleweg 2, D-3000, Hannover 51, Germany

    Klaus Tietze

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  1. Klaus Tietze
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Samuel J. Freeth Charles O. Ofoegbu K. Mosto Onuoha

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© 1992 Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Braunschweig/Wiesbaden

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Tietze, K. (1992). Cyclic gas bursts: are they a ‘usual’ feature of Lake Nyos and other gas-bearing lakes?. In: Freeth, S.J., Ofoegbu, C.O., Onuoha, K.M. (eds) Natural Hazards in West and Central Africa. International Monograph Series. Vieweg+Teubner Verlag, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-05239-5_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-05239-5_10

  • Publisher Name: Vieweg+Teubner Verlag, Wiesbaden

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-663-05241-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-663-05239-5

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