Things That Shouldn't - But Still Do - Go Boom!
There are rules about
such things ... or so we think. After all, apples don't fall up, lions don't
have feathers, and lakes don't explode.
Sure enough, Macintoshes
don't fall skyward, and panthera leo doesn't have beautiful plumage.
But if you happened to
be living in Cameroon you'd know all too well that lakes can, and do, explode.
Take for example the
Lake Nyos in the Northwest Province of Cameroon. Part of the inactive Oku
volcano chain, it's an extremely deep, extremely high and, most importantly,
very calm, very still, lake.
But it hasn't always
been so calm or still. In 1986 something very weird happened to Lake Nyos, a
weirdness that unfortunately killed 3,500 head of livestock ... and 1,700
people.
No jokes this time. No
clumsy 50's horror movie metaphors. What happened to the people in the three
villages near that lake isn't funny. Most of them luckily died in the sleep,
but the 4,000 others who escaped the region suffered from sores, repertory
problems and even paralysis.
All because Lake Nyos exploded.
Before the why, here's
some more: what happened to the villages of Cha, Nyos, and Subum that time
isn't unique. The same thing happened to lake Monoun, also in Cameroon, in
1984. That time 37 people died, again not very pleasantly. What does sound like
a scene from some only horror flick is the story of a truck that had been
driving near the scene. Mysteriously, the truck's engine died, and then so did
the ten people who got out: suffocating within minutes of stepping down. Only
two people of the dozen survived, all because they happened to be sitting on
top of the truck.
The technical term for
what happened to Lake Nyos and Monoun is a limnic eruption. To get one you need
a few basic elements: one, a very deep volcanic lake; two, said lake has to be
over a slow source of volcanic gas; and three, it has to be very, very still.
What happens is that
volcanic gas, mostly carbon dioxide but nasty carbon monoxide as well, super
saturates the lake. A clumsy way of thinking about it is a can of soda: shake
it up like crazy and the fluid in the can, held back by pressure, doesn't do
anything.
But pull the top, or in
the case of Nyos and Monoun, a small landslide or low magnitude earthquake, and
all that trapped gas rushes out in an immense explosion. That's bad enough, as
there are even some theories suggesting that the subsequent lake-tsunami from
the gassy blast has wiped out still more villages, but what's worse is that
those gasses trapped in the lake water are absolutely deadly.
Heavier than air, the
carbon dioxide flows down from the mountain lake, suffocating anything and
anyone in it's path – which explains how those two lucky passengers managed to
escape: they were simply above the toxic cloud.
Fortunately scientists
and engineers are working on ways to stop limnic blasts. Controlled taping of
the gasses, bubbling pipes to keep the water from becoming super saturated,
it's beginning to look like they might be able to keep what happened to the
1700 people of Nyos from happening again.
But what keeps other
scientists awake at night is that there are more than likely lots of other
lakes ready to explode, the question being ... when?
Okay, so lakes can
explode. But fruit doesn't drop to the sky and feline African predators aren't
born with fluffy down, and frogs don't pop ... right?
Not if you happened to
live in Germany a few years ago: for awhile there toads were doing just that.
And we're not talking a few here and there. Over 1,000 frogs were found burst
and blasted in a lake that was soon stuck with the pleasant name "the
death pool."
Theories flew like parts
of an exploding frog: a virus? A crazy who had a thing for dynamite and toads?
A detonating mass suicide? What the hell (bang) was going (boom) on (kablam)?
The cops checked out the
area and the local nut-houses but there wasn't anyone with that very weird and
very specific MO. Scientists check out the exploded remains but found no
suspicious viruses, parasites, or bacteria.
They one veterinarian
came up with the most likely answer: crows.
As anyone who has ever
watched a crow knows they do not fit the label bird brain. Extremely clever and
resourceful, crows are not only fast learners but they study, and learn from,
other crows. What Frank Mutschmann, one clever vet, hypothesized was that it
was happening was the meeting of smart crows and a frog's natural defenses –
plus the allure of livers.
Wanting that tasty part
of the toads, the crows had learned how to neatly extract it from their prey
with a quick stab of their very sharp bills. In response, the toads did what
they always go: puff themselves up. The problem – for the amphibians that is –
is that because they now had a hole where their livers were that defense then
became an explosive problem. Weasels might not literally go pop in that old
kid's song but that seems to be just what was happening to that lake of German
toads in 2005.
But that still doesn't
change that Pipins don't fall up, and lions don't have tails like a peacock's,
right? And what about ants? They don't explode, do they?
But they do. Ladies and
Gentlemen allow me to present camponotus saundersi. Native to Malaysia, this
average looking ant has a unique structure giving it an even more unique
behavior when threatened.
Running the length of
its little body are two mandibular glands full of toxins. That's bad enough, as
any critter that decides to try a bite will get a mouthful of foul-tasting,
maybe even deadly, venom, but what sets this ant aside from others is what
happens when it gets pushed into a corner.
By clamping down on a
special set of muscles these ants can commit violent and, yes, explosive
suicide: taking out any nearby threat with a hail of nasty poisons. It's
certainly a dramatic way to go but you can bet anything threatening it's colony
will get a shock it won't soon forget.
Sure apples do not fall
up and lions don't have feathers – but what with exploding lakes, bursting
toads, and suicide-bombing ants it you might want to check that your
grandmother's homemade pie doesn't float away or that lions aren't about to
swoop down from the sky and carry you off.
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