 "Before Collapse" On the first couple of days there was a lava "platform" over the lava lake. You could walk from here to the other side of the cone. Everyone thought it was stable until 2 July 2004..... |
 "After Collapse" On the evening of 2 July 2004 at 2100 the lava platform collapsed and fell into the the lava lake. The last person to leave the platform left an hour before the collapse! Lucky for him! |
 "Dangerous Cracks" Cracks form near the rim of the cone to reinforce the idea that the cone is very dangerous to stand on! Its not a good idea to stand to the right of the crack.!! |
 "Cone Collapses" Part of the cone collapsed. See left for details before collapse. Be careful on the cones of Lengai. |
 "Crystals" Natron (hydrated sodium carbonate Na2CO3.10H2O) and aphthitalite - (K,Na)3Na(SO4)2 crystals form immediatly after lava cools |
 "Lava Dome 93" There was an explosive eruption in 1993 in the south part of the active crater. After the eruption, lava extruded in the vent to create a lava dome. |
 "Few Hours Old Lava" This is what natrocarbonatite lava looks like after about a couple of hours. Notice the color. |
 "20-36 Hours Old Lava" About a day or two later the lava starts to react with the moist atmosphere turning the lava white. |
 "1 Week Old Lava Flow" After about a week the whole lava flow turns white. |
 "1 to 3 Months Old Lava" After about a month or so the natrocarbonatite lava starts to breakdown into dust. |
 "Lava to Dust" After about 6 months or depending on the weather conditions, the lava flow turns into dust. |
 "Buried Hornito" An old hornito still smolders after all these years |
 "Under Old Hornito" View of old T45 hornito with hollow opening. Before a vent dies the magma creates a small magma chamber underneath the cone and hollows it out. This is the reason why you should not climb on old cones. |
 "Old Kitchen" Apparently lava flows have covered even more of the "ol kitchen area" Our kitchen used to be here. |