Natural Disaster

06-12-2007, 12:56 AM

From the FSM site...

Quote:

Originally Posted by ****

http://www.neatorama.com/2007/05/21/...-20th-century/

Very interesting account about the mysterious death of 1800 people around lake Nyos in Cameroon.

Apparently the depth, stillness, and constant temperature of the lake allowed it to store a lot of soluble CO2. Something triggered the sudden release of the CO2, essentially causing a "Lake Eruption" bigger than of Mt. St. Helens! All the people and wildlife surrounding the lake died of suffocation.

Quote:

As the scientists took samples from deeper and deeper in Lake Nyos, the
already high carbon dioxide (CO2) levels climbed steadily higher. At the 600 foot depth, the levels suddenly shot off the charts. Beyond that depth, the CO2 levels were so high that when the scientists tried to pull the samples to the surface, the containers burst from the pressure of all the gas that came out of solution. The scientists had to switch to pressurized containers to collect their samples, and when they did they were stunned to find that the water at the bottom of the lake contained five gallons of dissolved CO2 for every gallon of water.

Quote:

There is a physical limit to how much CO2 water can absorb, even under the tremendous pressured that exist at the bottom of a 690 foot deep lake. As the bottom layers become saturated, the CO2 is pushed up to where the pressure is low enough for it to start coming out of solution. At this point any little disturbance—a landslide, stormy weather, or even high winds or just a cold snap—can cause the CO2 to begin bubbling to the surface. And when the bubbles start rising, they can cause a siphoning or “chimney” effect, triggering a chain reaction that in one giant upheaval can cause the lake to disgorge CO2 that has been accumulating in the lake for decades.

Quote:

In the months following the disaster at Lake Nyos, the scientists continued to monitor the lake’s CO2 levels. When the levels began to increase again, they concluded that their theory was correct.

In the meantime, they had also come up with an estimate of just how much CO2 had escaped from the lake on August 22—and were stunned by what they found. Eyewitness accounts from people who were high enough in the hills above the lake to survive the eruption described how the lake began bubbling strangely on August 17, causing a misty cloud to form above the surface of the water. Then without warning, on August 22, the lake suddenly exploded; water and gas shot a couple of hundred feet into the air. The CO2 had taken up so much space in the lake that when it was finally released 1.2 cubic kilometers of CO2—enough to fill 10 football stadiums—in as little as 20 seconds. (Are you old enough to remember the huge volume of ash that Mt. Saint Helens released when it erupted in 1980? That eruption released only 1/3 of one cubic kilometer of ash—a quarter of Lake Nyos’s emission.)

Crazy!

wolf · 06-12-2007, 01:22 AM

I'm trying to come up with some sort of witty, incisive comment, something on the order of carbonated sodas being bad for you, or perhaps that they needed more trees to handle the CO2 load ...

I need more sleep.

lizzymahoney · 06-12-2007, 10:04 AM

Yeah, I was thinking that the Big Burp was probably very good for local vegetation. Only that was too rude to post. Thanks for paving the way.

Still, I captured home brew carbon dioxide and used it to aerate a planted aquarium with some success. Not very attractive, though.

Rexmons · 06-13-2007, 07:00 AM

i read this article, one thing that had stuck out for me was when they were saying some people in villages further away survived if they stayed indoors, however if you were sleeping at the time, and had a window open in the house, your head would have been under the "death line" and you just died right there in your sleep while people in the same room as you were unaffected.

lizzymahoney · 06-13-2007, 08:48 AM

Makes sense. CO2 being heavier than free oxygen. That would be on the outer rings of the blast zone though.

06-12-2007, 01:22 AM	#2
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	I'm trying to come up with some sort of witty, incisive comment, something on the order of carbonated sodas being bad for you, or perhaps that they needed more trees to handle the CO2 load ... I need more sleep. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

06-13-2007, 07:00 AM	#4
Rexmons - Kavkaz United - Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 613	i read this article, one thing that had stuck out for me was when they were saying some people in villages further away survived if they stayed indoors, however if you were sleeping at the time, and had a window open in the house, your head would have been under the "death line" and you just died right there in your sleep while people in the same room as you were unaffected. __________________ "Life's a bitch but God forbid the bitch divorce me..."

06-12-2007, 10:04 AM	#3
lizzymahoney Major Inhabitant Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 124	Yeah, I was thinking that the Big Burp was probably very good for local vegetation. Only that was too rude to post. Thanks for paving the way. Still, I captured home brew carbon dioxide and used it to aerate a planted aquarium with some success. Not very attractive, though.

06-13-2007, 08:48 AM	#5
lizzymahoney Major Inhabitant Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 124	Makes sense. CO2 being heavier than free oxygen. That would be on the outer rings of the blast zone though.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)