I've been reading about Oldoiyo Lengai in Africa (quite a bit actually)but as of yet I have not seen a picture of a carbonatite lava. What the heck does one look like anyway...

rocky Stephen Weinberg

Dear Stephen,

I quick consultation with a couple of volcanologists yields the following: during daylight the flows appear muddy and at night they would be incandescent. They cool to a whitish color. Strange and wonderful stuff. I could not find any color pictures. You might ask the university library to get a copy of:

Krafft, M. and Krafft, K, 1981, Dans l'Antre du Diable, Volcans d' Afrique, Canaries et Reunion, Edition Presses de la Cite, Paris.

Steve Mattox, University of North Dakota 

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