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Lake Of Fire Research Paper

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Lake of Fire ReadWorks What happened when a U.S. geologist ventured into the mouth of a seething volcano? The wicked heat, the ear-pounding noise, the stinging air—the assault on Ken Sims’s senses was almost unbearable. At any moment, a shower of molten rock could have reduced him to cinders. Sims had never known such fear—or such exhilaration. The object of his scientific curiosity lay just above him. If he could just keep his footing for a few more feet, something no other human had seen awaited him on the other side. Olivier Grunewald --climbing into Nyiragongo’s crater Ken Sims is a volcanologist. For most of the year, he teaches and works in a lab at the University of Wyoming. His field studies take him far away, though, to some of the most treacherous spots in the world. Few places are more treacherous than the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Africa. For two decades, near-steady warfare has claimed millions of lives in the area. Olivier Grunewald--Red-hot lava spills over the lip of the lava lake inside the crater …show more content…

Its cold depths hold a huge concentration of dissolved methane and carbon dioxide. A geologic disturbance, such as an earthquake or a volcanic eruption, could stir up the lake. The cold water could rise, releasing the dissolved gas from solution. Like a shaken can of Coke, the lake could unleash the gas in a swarm of bubbles, endangering the people who live on Kivu’s shores. (When the human body breathes too much carbon dioxide, its fluids become acidic and fatal carbon dioxide poisoning can occur.) The results of such an event could be disastrous because more than 1 million people live in the shoreline city of

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