Lake Kivu
Lake Kivu forms part of the border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo
Coordinates	2°0′S 29°0′ECoordinates: 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[1]
Max width	48 km[1]
Surface area	2,700 km²[1]
Average depth	240m
Max depth	480m
Water volume	500 km³
Shore length1
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. map of Rwanda, converted directly from CIA World Factbook GIF File links The following pages link to this file: Rwanda Geography of Rwanda Lake Kivu Categories: CIA World Factbook images ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ... A man-made lake in Keukenhof, Netherlands A lake is a body of water or other liquid of considerable size contained on a body of land. ... The are a group of lakes formed by the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa. ... A meromictic lake has layers of water which do not intermix. ... The Ruzizi River flows from Lake Kivu to Lake Tanganyika in Central Africa. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Idjwi is an island in Lake Kivu, belonging to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... Goma is a large city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, lying at the southern end of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda. ... Kibuye is a market town in western Rwanda, lying on the eastern shore of Lake Kivu. ... Cyangugu or Ciangugu is a prefecture and town in southwestern Rwanda close to the border of Democratic Republic of Congo and close to the shores of Lake Kivu. ... The Great Lakes of Africa are a series of lakes in and around the Great Rift Valley. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The Ruzizi River flows from Lake Kivu to Lake Tanganyika in Central Africa. ... Lake Tanganyika is a large lake in central Africa (3° 20 to 8° 48 South and from 29° 5 to 31° 15 East). ...

Geography and fisheries

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. A man-made lake in Keukenhof, Netherlands A lake is a body of water or other liquid of considerable size contained on a body of land. ...

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. Idjwi is an island in Lake Kivu, belonging to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, lying at the southern end of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda. ... Sake is a town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the eastern province of North Kivu. ... Goma is a large city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... Gisenyi is a lake resort, lying on Lake Kivu in Rwanda. ... Kibuye is a market town in western Rwanda, lying on the eastern shore of Lake Kivu. ... Cyangugu or Ciangugu is a prefecture and town in southwestern Rwanda close to the border of Democratic Republic of Congo and close to the shores of Lake Kivu. ...

Native fish include species of Barbus, Clarias, and Haplochromis, as well as Nile Tilapia. Limnothrissa miodon, one of two species known as the Tanganyika sardine, was introduced in 1959 and formed the basis of a new pelagic zone fishery. In the early 1990s, the number of fishers on the lake was 6563, of which 3027 were associated with the pelagic fishery and 3536 with the traditional fishery. Widespread armed conflict in the surrounding region from the mid-1990s resulted in a decline in the fisheries harvest.^[2] Species Barbus brevipinnis (Shortfin Barb) Barbus callipterus (Clipper Barb) Barbus conchonius (Rosy Barb) Barbus denisonii (Red Line Torpedo Barb) Barbus nigrofasciatus (Black Ruby Barb) Barbus oligolepis (Checker Barb) Barbus pentazona (Pentazona Barb) Barbus schuberti (Gold Barb) Barbus schwanefeldi (Tinfoil Barb) Barbus tetrazona (Tiger Barb) Barbus ticto (Ticto Barb) Barbus titteya... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Haplochromis is the largest genus of fish in the family Cichlidae, many of which are endemic to Lake Victoria in East Africa. ... Binomial name Oreochromis niloticus Linnaeus, 1758 The Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus is a cichlid fish of African origin which is native from Syria into east Africa through the Congo to Liberia. ... The Tanganyika sardine is really two species (Limnothrissa miodon and Stolothrissa tanganicae) both of which are small, planktivorous, pelagic, freshwater clupeid originating from Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. ... Diagram of the layers of the pelagic zone. ...

Chemistry

Shore at Gisenyi, Rwanda

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. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Gisenyi is a lake resort, lying on Lake Kivu in Rwanda. ... A cow suffocated by gasses from Lake Nyos A limnic eruption, also referred to as a lake overturn or exploding lake, is a rare type of natural disaster in which CO2 suddenly erupts from deep lake water, posing the threat of suffocating wildlife, livestock and humans. ... Lake Nyos is a crater lake in the Northwest Province of Cameroon, located at . ... Lake Monoun is a lake in West Province, Cameroon that lies in the Oku Volcanic Field. ... A cow suffocated by gasses from Lake Nyos A limnic eruption, also referred to as a lake overturn or exploding lake, is a rare type of natural disaster in which CO2 suddenly erupts from deep lake water, posing the threat of suffocating wildlife, livestock and humans. ...

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.^[3][4]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.^[5] The tsunami that struck Malé in the Maldives on December 26, 2004. ...

Satellite image of Lake Kivu courtesy of NASA.

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. Image File history File linksMetadata LakeKivu_satellite. ... Image File history File linksMetadata LakeKivu_satellite. ...

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

Lake Kivu has recently been found to contain approximately 55 billion cubic metres of dissolved methane gas at a depth of 300 metres. Extraction of the gas is currently being done on a small scale, with the extracted gas being used to run boilers at a brewery.^[6] As far as large-scale exploitation of this resource is concerned, the Rwandan government has signed an $80 million deal with an international consortium to produce methane from the lake. 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 neighboring African countries.^[7] The simplest hydrocarbon, methane, is a gas with a chemical formula of CH4. ... The entrance of a brewery. ... Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ...

Human history

People on the shore at Gisenyi

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. It gained notoriety as a place where many of the victims of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide were dumped. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1500x1000, 876 KB) by mrflip from http://flickr. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1500x1000, 876 KB) by mrflip from http://flickr. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... Count Gustav Adolf Graf von Götzen (12 May 1866 — 2 December 1910) was a German explorer and Governor of German East Africa. ... The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass extermination of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutu sympathizers in Rwanda and was the largest atrocity during the Rwandan Civil War. ...

See also

• Limnic eruption
• Mazuku
• Meromictic Lakes
• Methane
• Haroun Tazieff
• Henry's Law
• Raoult's Law
• Lake Nyos
• Lake Manoun
• Disasters

A cow suffocated by gasses from Lake Nyos A limnic eruption, also referred to as a lake overturn or exploding lake, is a rare type of natural disaster in which CO2 suddenly erupts from deep lake water, posing the threat of suffocating wildlife, livestock and humans. ... A mazuku is the geological name given to pockets of oxygen-poor air which can be lethal to any human or animal life inside. ... ... Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula CH4. ... Haroun Tazieff (May 11, 1914-February 6, 1998) was a French vulcanologist and geologist. ... In chemistry, Henrys law is one of the gas laws, formulated by William Henry. ... In chemistry, Raoults law states that the vapor pressure of mixed liquids is dependent on the vapor pressures of the individual liquids and the molar vulgar fraction of each present in solution. ... Lake Nyos is a crater lake in the Northwest Province of Cameroon, located at . ...

Notes and references