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How much water swept over the Lake Nyos dam during the 1986 gas disaster?

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Abstract

The toxic aerosol of water and carbon dioxide which was released from Lake Nyos in August 1986 passed over the natural dam which confines the lake and devastated the valleys to the north. The gas release generated a wave of water which swept across the lake surface and damaged vegetation on the eastern and southern shore. However, the vegetation to either side of the spillway was undamaged and therefore, despite a recent suggestion to the contrary, any wave of water which passed over the dam could have been no more than a few centimetres high.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University College of Swansea, SA2 8PP, Swansea, UK

    S J Freeth

  2. Earth Sciences Directorate, Natural Environment Research Council, SN2 1EU, Swindon, UK

    R L F Kay

Authors
  1. S J Freeth
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  2. R L F Kay
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Freeth, S.J., Kay, R.L.F. How much water swept over the Lake Nyos dam during the 1986 gas disaster?. Bull Volcanol 53, 147–150 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00265419

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00265419

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