A Killer Lake

By Thomas Horvath

Abstract

In 1986, Lake Nyos, a volcanic lake located in Cameroon, Africa, released a huge amount of carbon dioxide gas, killing over 1,700 people and countless livestock and other animals in the area. This case, intended for use in a limnology or an aquatic biology course, explores that event, introducing students to concepts related to lake formation, thermal stratification, and dissolved gases. Students interpret graphs containing temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and conductivity data for the lake, and then synthesize these different types of limnological data to understand what happened.

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Date Posted

06/20/2005

Overview

Objectives

List the types of lakes that can be formed through volcanic activity and identify the characteristics of such lakes.
Distinguish between holomictic and meromictic lakes.
Describe the limnetic conditions necessary for meromixis to form in a lake.
Identify the vertical zones of a meromictic lake.
List the possible dissolved gases associated with lakes.
List the sources of and factors affecting the quantity of dissolved gases in lakes.

Keywords

Thermal stratification; meromictic lake; dissolved gas; meromixis; Lake Nyos; Lower Nyos; Cameroon; Africa

Subject Headings

Earth Science

Environmental Science

Limnology

EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

Undergraduate lower division, Undergraduate upper division

FORMAT

PDF

TOPICAL AREAS

N/A

LANGUAGE

English

TYPE/METHODS

Interrupted

Teaching Notes & Answer Key

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Answer Key

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