Mount Nyiragongo, Virunga Mountains, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Mount Nyiragongo is an active stratovolcano in the Virunga Mountains in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The volcano has an elevation of 3470 meters and its main crater usually contains a large lava lake. Volcanism at Mount Nyiragongo is related to the presence of the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift system, where the African tectonic plate is splitting into two.


Information source: Virunga National Park Service

Image: Lava lake in the crater of Mount Nyiragongo in the Virunga Mountains, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Credit: Caj Tjeenk Willink, Wikimedia Commons.

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