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1. Volcanic Edifice and Lava Field
2. Magma Plumbing System
3. Eruptive Activity
4. Current Eruptive Activity
5. Cited References

Nyamulagira (or Nyamuragira, 3058 m a.s.l.) is a shield volcano located in the western end of the Virunga volcanic province (North Kivu, D.R. Congo), in the rift depression. Its summit is shaped by a 2 x 2.3 km caldera. More than 100 adventive cones are scattered along its flanks and in the lava plain at its base.

In the western part of the VVP, eruptive cones NW and SE of Nyamulagira tend to align sub-parallel to the main rift escarpment in this area, in a NE-SW orientation, but the majority of cones and fissures of Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira is concentrated along a NNW-SSE-oriented weakness zone, which crosses both volcanoes. This NNW-SSE alignment of cones and eruptive fissures is inferred as the trace at the ground surface of a deep inherited basement structure (Pouclet, 1976; Smets et al., 2010) and/or the result of the local stress field resulting from the interaction of the gravitational loading of both Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira (Wauthier et al., 2012). In addition, lots of these cones are preferentially located at break-of-slopes, highlighting an influence of the gravitational stress field associated with the presence of the main volcanic edifice (Smets et al., 2015).

The enclaves observed in Nyamulagira lavas suggest that the Nyamulagira lava field developed above non- or poorly metamorphosed detritic rocks, such as sandstones, quartzites, arkoses, clay and/or schists (Verhoogen, 1948; Denaeyer and van Wallendael, 1961; Pouclet and Villeneuve, 1972; Pouclet, 1973, 1974; Kampunzu et al., 1984). Such lithology is similar to some of the surrounding Precambrian rocks (e.g., Pasteels, 1956,1961; Buchstein et al., 1967; Rumvegeri, 1987; Fernandez-Alonso, 2007), but could also correspond to more recent Tertiary-Quaternary sediments that filled the rift depressions (Yamba, 1993). Indeed, at least north of the Nyamulagira lava field, the lavas covered recent sediments of an unknown thickness.

(Text modified from Smets et al., 2015)

Like for Nyiragongo, information on the magmatic system of Nyamulagira is relatively poor. The presence of a main edifice at least indicates the existence of crustal magmatic chamber(s). The presence of a shallow magma chamber has also been inferred from the caldera, according to Wadge and Burt (2011). The petrological analyses of Brousse et al. (1979, 1981), Caron et al. (1982) and Kampunuzu et al. (1984) on the 1976-1977, 1980 and 1981-1982 lavas suggest that crystallization in magma primarily occurred at a depth of 5-7 km. Head et al. (2011) examined olivine-hosted melt inclusion volatiles for the 1938, 1948, 1986 and 2006 eruptions, showing that gas entrapment occurred at a slightly shallower depth range of 3-5 km. Hamaguchi (1983) detected an aseismic zone between 3 and 7 km beneath the 1981-1982 eruption site, suggesting that this evidence was indicative of a magma reservoir at this depth range. The numerical modelling of ground deformation through InSAR suggests a magma reservoir at a depth range of 2-4 km for the 1996, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2010 eruptions (Toombs and Wadge, 2012; Wauthier et al., 2013).

Magma storage inside the main edifice or within a vertical conduit is also likely, as suggested by the presence of a lava lake in the central caldera between the 1920s and 1938 (Verhoogen 1948), the markedly short-term seismic precursors prior to the 2010 eruption (Smets et al. 2014a), inter-eruptive ground deformation in the central caldera (Toombs and Wadge, 2012; Wauthier et al., 2013), and the more recent degassing, lava fountaining and lava lake activity in the pit crater of the central caldera (Campion, 2014; Smets et al. 2014b).

A low seismic velocity region detected at a depth of 20 to 30 km suggests the existence of another magmatic reservoir beneath the volcano (Mavonga et al., 2010). According to Chakrabarti et al. (2009), the depth of partial melting should approximate 80 km. Thus, Nyamulagira should have at least two main levels of magma storage between the primary source of magma and the ground surface.

(Text modified from Smets et al., 2015)

Nyamulagira erupted at least 42 times since the late 19th century, with an increase in eruption frequency in the last 30 years. These eruptions are characterized by lava fountains building up a pyroclastic cone around the vent, long lava flows able to reach tens of kilometers, together with the emission of very large amounts of SO₂. Most eruptions take place along a NNW-SSE fracture network that crosses the main edifice.

Pouclet (1976) and Smets et al. (2014a) reported that Nyamulagira eruptions typically show a similar evolutionary pattern and occasionally occur with minor variations. Based on years of field observations and the interpretation of 21 historical eruptions, Pouclet (1976) conceptually distinguished two primary types of eruptive events: classical and major eruptions. Classical events are initiated in the caldera and/or on volcano flanks, with explosions and eruptive fissure(s) openings. The coexistence of summit and flank erupting vents was observed at least for the 1894, 1957, 1989, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2010 eruptions (Pouclet, 1976; Smithsonian, 1971-2014; Kavotha, 1992; Smets et al., 2014a). In the first hours/days lava fountains, forming spatter ramparts along the fissure, ash-laden gas plumes with Pelee’s hairs, and fast moving (i.e., up to several kilometres per hour) lava flows are observed. The peak of eruption intensity is reached during this first stage. Next, the activity stabilizes and progressively becomes more effusive with a decreasing ash content in the emitted plume, the focusing of lava fountains into a smaller section of the eruptive fissure, and the transition from fast moving lava flows to lava thickening through flow stacking. When eruptions are initiated both on top and on the flank of the volcano, the summit effusion terminates at this stage, and the eruptive activity concentrates at the flank vent. Finally, the eruptive activity progressively decreases to an active lava pond nested inside the flank vent. Fumarole activity persists after the eruptions terminate. During flank eruptions, and less frequently in the caldera, spatter-to-scoria cones are produced along the eruptive fissures. These classical eruptions of Nyamulagira last from a few days to a few weeks with an average of approximately 20 to 30 days. The typical erupted lava volume of flank eruptions is 40 to 70 × 10⁶ m³, but this volume could be much smaller during summit eruptions (Table 2). These values are relatively standard for a basaltic volcano (Siebert et al., 2010).

Less frequently, i.e., every ~10 years since 1940, major eruptions occur. These events emit much larger volumes of lava (i.e., > 80 × 10⁶ m³), often last longer (i.e., several months to years) and typically show more complex characteristics, with the growth of several large pyroclastic cones along multiple fissure segments, the renewal of fountaining activity during an intermediate stage of the eruption and occasionally, local co-eruptive earthquakes (e.g., Tack, 1982). The most long-lived eruptions typically occur in the lava plain, kilometres from the central caldera.

This eruptive activity, mostly characterized by flank eruptions, was interrupted by intracrateral eruptive activity between 1913 and 1938.  Reports of a red glow at the top of Nyamulagira suggest potential episodic eruptive activity in the caldera starting since 1913 (Pouclet, 1976). There is evidence for a lava lake in the Nyamulagira caldera from at least 1929 to 1938 (Hoier, 1939; Verhoogen, 1939,1948; Gevers, 1940). The Nyamulagira lava lake was located in a pit crater, in the NE part of the central caldera. Between 1929 and 1938, this lava lake regularly fed a large depression in the SW part of the caldera, with lava escaping from fissures or lava lake overflow. Progressively, the lava lake level rose and the SW depression became almost completely filled with lava. In November 1936, a spatter cone developed over the lava lake, and in 1937, the lava invaded a large part of the caldera, forming hornitos in some areas (Hoier, 1939). In January 1938, a huge collapse of the western part of the caldera marked the beginning of a voluminous (> 200 × 10⁶ m³ of lava) and very long (2.5 years) eruption. This eruption drained the lava lake and modified both the shape of the main edifice  and the eruption style of the volcano, which came back to a flank eruption style (Verhoogen, 1948; Pouclet, 1976).

Such interruption of flank eruptive activity occurred another time, after the major 2011-2012 flank eruption. Since the end of that eruption, in April 2012, the same pit crater that hosted the 1913-1938 intracrateral activity started emitting large amounts of volcanic gases. In April 2014 and starting from June 2014, lava fountaining activity appeared in the pit crater. This activity in the central caldera progressively gave birth to the current semi-permanent lava lake.

The repetition of such a scenario today would mark a major change in the Nyamulagira eruption style. The potential consequences on the neighboring and less-remote Nyiragongo volcano remain unknown, as some (but not all) major flank eruptions of Nyamulagira may have triggered activity at Nyiragongo in the past.

 

In April 2014 and from 23rd June to mid-September 2014, lava fountains appeared in the pit crater located in the NE part of the Nyamulagira’s main caldera (Smets et al., 2014b).

On 1st November 2014, this activity resumed in the form of a small persistent lava lake. This lava lake activity stopped around May 2016, but a thick gas plume still escapes from the pit crater.

More information about the recent eruptive activity of Nyamulagira is available in the Current Activity page.

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