Author(s)

Mapendano Yalire¹, Bahati Rusimbuka¹, Musosekania Kasereka¹, Laurent Bizimungu¹, Augusta Mutoni², Gaëtan Sakindi², Katcho Karume^1,3

¹Goma Volcano Observatory, Department of Geochemistry and Environment, Democratic Republic of Congo.
²Lake Kivu Monitoring Program (LKMP), Energy Development Corporation Limited (EDCL), Rwanda.
³Evangelical University in Africa, Faculty of Agronomy and Environment Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo.

After the volcanic eruption of January 17^th, 2002, Goma Volcano Observatory (OVG) initiated carbon dioxide (CO₂) monitoring in the fractures south of the Nyiragongo volcano and at the northern edge of Lake Kivu. During the period from March 17^th, 2017 to June 10^th, 2020, twice a week, a GA 5000 gasometer was used for CO₂ in the fractures as well as in the mazukus, respectively, as part of a project funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands through the Lake Kivu Monitoring Program (LKMP) in Rwanda. The level of volcanic activity was determined by the volume of gas emitted by the volcano and measured by a DOAS and the seismicity measured by a network of 15 seismometers managed by the OVG. The results show that the concentration of CO₂ in the active fractures from recent Nyiragongo eruptions varies with volcanic activity and the occurrence of a large earthquake in the East African Rift; but in the mazukus there is almost no relationship between CO₂ content and volcanic activity. The study also shows that the influence of carbon dioxide in mazukus on the carbon dioxide into the Lake Kivu waters remains a major research question. The purpose of this study is to establish the relationship between the existing Carbon Dioxide (mazukus) in the Northern watershed and that of the deep waters of Lake Kivu.

Mazuku, Carbon Dioxide, Lake Kivu, Nyiragongo Volcano

Yalire, M. , Rusimbuka, B. , Kasereka, M. , Bizimungu, L. , Mutoni, A. , Sakindi, G. and Karume, K. (2022) Towards a Volumetric Variation of Lake Kivu Gases by the Nyamulagira and Nyiragongo Volcanoes. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 10, 1-9. doi: 10.4236/gep.2022.102001.