Nyos Lake, The Lake that has been Sacrificed 1800 Peoples

Lake Nyos, large lake located in the area of ​​Cameroon, West Africa. The depth of this lake reaches 157 m with the deepest 208 meters. There are many people living around Lake Nyos Valley.

However, in 1986, there were peculiarities in residential areas. Around 1700 people died suddenly and simultaneously. Even more strangely, all the people who died were killed while doing their daily work.

There was killed while pumping water, cooking and some are dead while drinking a glass of water. Some survivors of that event to tell what happened on the day these people died.

He said, the night before the incident, the air suddenly felt warm and smelled like rotten eggs. People are not too concerned about it. And suddenly the next morning, many bodies are lying when getting busy with their daily activities.

No one knows for sure what the cause of death was strange. But the experts found, if the water of Lake Nyos color change from clear to bright orange color.

To find answers, the experts then examined the Craten Lake in Oregon. This lake is the largest lake in the world number seven. The extent of 50 square kilometers with a depth of 594 meters. So described if the Empire State entered into this lake, will surely sink.

Lake Craten holds about 19 trillion liters of water. Around 7700 years ago, Mount Mazame the place erupted and threw the top of the mountain. Crater Lake is then formed Craten.

However, it remains Mazame mountain activities affecting the lake. Because under the lake turns out there are still pools of the former magma that still remain hot.

The experts found that the water temperature at the bottom of the lake a few degrees warmer, its salt content is also ten times more concentrated and contains a lot of CO2. Then the CO2 is then seeping from the cracks of the earth's crust and into the crater that has now become a lake.

However, the presence of water has prevented the rise of CO2 into the air. Even so there is little that escapes, still could be lost brought gusts of wind. So it is not too dangerous.

The process also greatly affect the change of seasons. In winter, the velocity of water will be pushed down because of warmer temperatures below. Conversely in the summer, the velocity of the water will rise to the top.

The cycle is then used to make the appearance of the water layers of different density levels. Bottom water layer is more dense than the above. At the very bottom layer of water that is flowing from the bottom of CO2 that the earth is on hold.

CO2 can not rise higher because of different water concentrations in the layer above it. So gather and accumulate for decades and become very much in the bottom water layer.

This phenomenon was later found also in Horseshoe Lake is smaller than Lake Craten. The trees that grew around the lake dries up and eventually die.

After investigation, it turns out the CO2 levels in the lake reached 100 tons / day and soak into the ground. This is what makes the trees around them die. The experts then conduct experiments to dig a little ground on the lake and tried to light a fire.

However, due pekatnya CO2, the flame goes out immediately once brought near to the ground. It turned out that the accumulation of CO2 that has been very much on the lake finally overflowed and caused the lake becomes extremely dangerous.

However, CO2 levels in Horseshoe Lake is not too harmful to humans, because the limit harmful content is 1.75 million tons. And this will only happen in the event the mountain erupted.

These discoveries then help the experts to be able to conclude what happened in Lake Nyos. In the evening before the event, there is a cliff on the banks of the lake, collapsed and went into the water.

It is estimated that the cliff ruins have been shaking the water layers. So the most basic layer is filled with CO2 to rupture and drain large amounts of CO2 into the surface of the lake.

The next morning the flow of CO2 is then entered the residential area. And because CO2 is colorless and odorless, people are not aware of his arrival. That is what causes many people who died when he was working on his daily activities.

CO2 is like a killer who lurks in silence. Perhaps only a few people are aware of the dangers that are invisible in the bottom of the lake that looks extremely beautiful on that surface.

Without them knowing it, they inhale CO2 pretext arising from the most basic layer of the lake, which has been accumulated over decades. And plenty of people who died because of it.