Natrocarbonatite of Ol Doinyo Lengai
Natrocarbonatita de Ol Doinyo Lengai
- Date
- 1960-1966 · confidence high
- Place
- Ol Doinyo Lengai, Arusha, Tanzania
- Credited to
- J. Barry Dawson
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
After the 1960 eruptions, Dawson showed that Ol Doinyo Lengai emits natrocarbonatite lava (sodium and potassium carbonate) at about 500-600 °C, far cooler and more fluid than basaltic lava. It is the only known volcano with such lava.
Dawson published the lava study in 1962; later eruptions (1966, 1983, 2007-2008) confirmed the observations. In Maasai the volcano is called 'Mountain of God'.
What it led to
- the origin of carbonatites in the mantle
- volcanism of the African rifts
- a natural laboratory for carbonate magmas