The Mount Ol Doinyo Lengai is an active volcano in northern Tanzania. It consists of a volcanic cone with two craters, the northern of which has erupted during historical time. Uniquely for volcanoes on Earth, it has erupted natrocarbonatite, an unusually low temperature and highly fluid type of magma.
Ol Doinyo Lengai is the only active volcano known to emit natrocarbonatites, a rare type of volcanic rock that is rich in sodium, potassium, and calcium carbonate, but low in silica. Lava with less silica has a lower viscosity, leading Ol Doinyo Lengai to
have some of the fastest flowing lava in the world
Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano is situated in one of the beautiful places of North Tanzania, near Lake Natron where hundreds of thousands of pink flamingos fly every year. Ol Doinyo Lengai is unique among active volcanoes in the East Africa and unique in the world which produces natrocarbonatite lava or “cold lava”. It has a dark-brown or black colour in liquid state and a fluidity as water. This temperature is much lower than other lavas but, however, not so cool because it is approximately 510-600°C. In a hundred years Lengai has erupted about 15 times, the last time was in 2013. Fortunately, eruptions happen without victims because the volcano has relatively small size and it is situated rather far from nearest Maasai villages.
