What is a Volcano?
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging, and most are found underwater.
How Many Volcanoes Are In Rwanda?
The chain of 8 volcanoes comprises 2 active volcanoes located in Eastern DRC (Nyamulagira & Nyiragongo) and 6 remaining inactive volcanoes are Gahinga, Muhabura, Bisoke, Karisimbi, Mikeno, and Sabyinyo.
Are there any active volcanoes in Rwanda?
Mount Karisimbi is also shared by countries Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, it is close to active Mount Nyiragongo and dormant Mikeno volcano in the DRC as well as Mount Bisoke in Rwanda.
What is the biggest volcano in Rwanda?
Karisimbi
Volcanoes National Park is named after the chain of dormant volcanoes making up the Virunga Massif: Karisimbi – the highest at 4,507m, Bisoke with its verdant crater lake, Sabinyo, Gahinga, and Muhabura.
What is the oldest volcano in Rwanda?
Sabyinyo Volcano is the oldest of the range and lies between 3 countries (Rwanda, DRC, and Uganda). The name Sabyinyo is derived from the Kinyarwanda word “iryinyo” meaning tooth.
What is the youngest volcano in Rwanda?
Eruptive and seismic activity
The assumingly youngest volcanic rocks can be found in the form of trachytic lava flows on the southeastern flanks of the Karisimbi volcano.