Dr. Vodacek of the Rochester Institute of Technology will convene a 3-day multidisciplinary workshop in Rwanda for US, African, and European participants designed to develop and enhance understanding of tropical lake systems with emphasis on the gas-charged, tectonically active Kivu rift system. The intent is to integrate data sets and experiences to 1) determine the stability of the main and smaller fault-bounded basins of Lake Kivu and their response to methane mining; 2) evaluate the time and length scales of seismic and volcanic hazards; 3) integrate the sedimentological and tectonic records to deconvolve the tectonic and climatic history of Western rift lakes; and 4) assess the impacts of human activities on the Lake Kivu and its dynamics. Key foreign collaborators are Nicolas d?Oreye (European Centre for Geodynamics and Seismology), Alfred Wüest, (EAWAG), and Crispin Kinabo (University of Dar es Salaam). The foreign collaborators all work actively in the Western rift region and will serve as session chairs and help organize European and African invitee lists.
Intellectual Merit: Tropical lakes in the East African rift system preserve a long record of tectonic and climate change and record the environment of hominid evolution. The deep, anoxic lakes of the Western rift system appear stable, yet, the geological record reveals a complex interplay between periodic overturn in response to faulting, volcanism and volcanic degassing, and climate change. The Lake Kivu system is particularly precarious, in that dissolved gas levels are dangerously high within the deep waters of the lake and periods of volcanic and tectonic unrest could lead to destabilization. Previous reconnaissance studies of the volcanically and seismically active Lake Kivu system have identified the fundamental components of the fragile lake system, but data are too few and unevenly distributed in space and time to evaluate the relative importance of hydrological, tectonic, climatic, and recent human impacts. Focused studies after the Lake Nyos (Cameroon) overturn disaster, and the 2002 Nyiragongo volcanic eruption highlighted the complex interplay between regional development and geological hazards. The limited geographic scope and focus of these limnological, geophysical, and sedimentological studies, however, raise as many questions as the data answer. An integrated, multi-disciplinary examination of the Lake Kivu system, its tectonic processes, and its future is required to answer these important questions.
Broader impacts: The primary aims of the meeting are to link the diverse communities, and to build a strong network for multi-disciplinary research with a truly international team. The workshop aims to forge strong links with the energy sector within Rwanda, and to invite exploration teams to the workshop. The goals of the workshop are to establish a new initiative for cooperation in East Africa and to design programs to comprehensively evaluate and monitor the stability of the Lake Kivu system within its seismically and volcanically active tectonic setting. Each of the US, African and European PI?s have made field visits to the rift, and it is felt a meeting in Rwanda is essential to communicate hazards, to inform stakeholders, and to build support for expanded monitoring.
