Risque d’inondation dans la vallee de nyos

The maar Nyos, situated at latitude 6°26’78”N and 10°17’76”E along the Cameroon Volcanic Line is well known for its stratification from bottom to top. It lies on a granitic topography at 1100 m above sea level. The granitic cliff exposed to the west of the lake rises 100m above the water level. The lake waters are held behind to the north by a natural pyroclastic dam on which water overflows creating semi giant potholes. The overflow forms a waterfall of about 30-40m. This dam is highly and densely fractured (13 fractures of 23-40m long). The breakdown of this dam can create floods that will drawn over 10.000 people in both Cameroon and Nigeria (according to McKIE, 2000). The lake contains 3 billions m3 of water. At the bottom, the concentration of carbon dioxide is 85m/10m3 of water. The dam remains a great potential danger to the population, aggravated by the high concentration of carbon dioxide in the lake emanating from the mantle which can lead to another gas disaster. The tectonic instability or ever a slight earth tremors can break the dam and cause floods downstream. A volcanic eruption might even worsen the situation. This paper presents the results of a recent research carried out on the lake after the onset of the first phase of the degassing project.