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Lake Kivu

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: African Geography

   Lake Kivu
   Lake Kivu - Lake Kivu forms part of the border of Rwanda and the
   Democratic Republic of Congo

       Lake Kivu forms part of the border of Rwanda and the Democratic
                              Republic of Congo

   Coordinates 2°0′S 29°0′E,
   Lake type Rift Valley lakes, Meromictic
   Primary outflows Ruzizi River
   Catchment area 7,000 km²
   Basin countries Rwanda,
   Democratic Republic of Congo
   Max-length 89 km
   Max-width 48 km
   Surface area 2,700 km²
   Average depth 240m
   Max-depth 480m
   Water volume 500 km&sup3
   Shore length^1
   Surface elevation 1460 m
   Islands Idjwi
   Settlements Goma, Congo
   Bukavu, Congo
   Kibuye, Rwanda
   Cyangugu, Rwanda
   ^1 Shore length is an imprecise measure which may not be standardized
   for this article.

   Lake Kivu is one of the Great Lakes of Africa. It lies on the border
   between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the
   Albertine (western) Rift, a part of the Great Rift Valley. Lake Kivu
   empties into the Ruzizi River, which flows southwards into Lake
   Tanganyika. It gained notoriety as a place where many of the victims of
   the 1994 Rwandan genocide were dumped.

Geography

   The lake covers a total surface area of some 2700 km² and stands at a
   height of 1460 metres above sea level. The lake bed sits upon a rift
   valley that is slowly being pulled apart, causing volcanic activity in
   the area. The lake is surrounded by majestic mountains making it a
   magnificent sight.

   A large island, Idjwi, lies in the lake, while settlements on its shore
   include Bukavu, Kabare, Kalehe, Saké and Goma in Congo and Gisenyi,
   Kibuye and Cyangugu in Rwanda.

   The first European to visit the lake was German Count Adolf von Götzen
   in 1894. Since then it has been caught between the violent border
   conflicts.

Chemistry

   Satellite image of Lake Kivu courtesy of NASA.
   Enlarge
   Satellite image of Lake Kivu courtesy of NASA.

   Lake Kivu is one of three known exploding lakes, along with Cameroonian
   Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun, that experience violent lake overturns.
   Analysis of Lake Kivu's geological history indicates a periodic massive
   biological extinction about every 1,000 years. The trigger for lake
   overturns in Lake Kivu's case is unknown but periodic volcanic activity
   is suspected. The gaseous chemical composition of exploding lakes is
   unique to each lake; in Lake Kivu's case, methane and carbon dioxide
   due to lake water interaction with a volcano. The risk from a possible
   Lake Kivu overturn would be catastrophic, dwarfing other documented
   lake overturns at Lake Nyos, since approximately 2 million people live
   in the lake basin.

   Scientists hypothesize that sufficient volcanic interaction with the
   lake's bottom water that has high gas concentrations would heat water,
   force the methane out of the water, spark a methane explosion, and
   trigger a nearly simultaneous release of carbon dioxide. The carbon
   dioxide would then suffocate large numbers of people in the lake basin
   as the gases roll off the lake surface. It is also possible that the
   lake could spawn lake tsunamis as gas explodes out of it.

   The risk posed by Lake Kivu began to be understood during the analysis
   of more recent events at Lake Nyos. Lake Kivu's methane was only
   originally thought to be a cheap natural resource for export and the
   generation of cheap power. Once the mechanisms that caused lake
   overturns began to be understood, so did the risk the lake posed to the
   local population.

   An experimental vent pipe was installed at Lake Nyos in 2001 to degas
   the deep water, but such a solution for the much larger Lake Kivu would
   be extremely expensive, running into millions of dollars. No plan has
   been initiated to reduce the risk posed by Lake Kivu.

Methane extraction

   Lakeside in Rwanda
   Enlarge
   Lakeside in Rwanda

   Lake Kivu has recently been found to contain approximately 55 billion
   cubic metres of dissolved methane gas at a depth of 300 metres. The
   Rwandan government has signed an $80 million deal with an international
   consortium to extract this gas. Extraction is said to be extremely cost
   effective and simple because once the gas rich water is pumped up the
   dissolved gases (primarily carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and
   methane) begin to bubble out as the water pressure gets lower. This
   project is expected to increase Rwanda's energy generation capability
   by as much as 20 times and will enable Rwanda to sell electricity to
   neighbouring African countries.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Kivu"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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