US-Rwanda International Workshop: Tropical Rift Lake Systems: Integrated Volcanologic, Tectonic, Biogeochemical, and Geohazard Assessment of Lake Kivu; Kigali, Rwanda 2009

罗彻斯特理工学院的Vodacek博士将在卢旺达为美国、非洲和欧洲的参与者召集一个为期3天的多学科研讨会，旨在发展和加强对热带湖泊系统的理解，重点是充满气体的、构造活跃的基伍裂谷系统。目的是整合数据集和经验，以1)确定基伍湖主要和较小的断界盆地的稳定性及其对甲烷开采的响应；2)评估地震和火山灾害的时间和长度尺度；3)综合沉积学和构造记录，反演西部裂谷湖的构造和气候历史；4)评估人类活动对基伍湖及其动态的影响。主要的外国合作者是尼古拉斯？Oreye（欧洲地球动力学和地震学中心），Alfred w<e:1>, （EAWAG）和Crispin Kinabo（达累斯萨拉姆大学）。外国合作者都在西部裂谷地区积极工作，并将担任会议主席，帮助组织欧洲和非洲的受邀者名单。知识价值：东非裂谷系的热带湖泊保存了构造和气候变化的长期记录，并记录了人类进化的环境。西部裂谷系统的深层缺氧湖泊看起来很稳定，然而，地质记录揭示了一个复杂的相互作用，包括周期性的断层翻转、火山活动和火山脱气以及气候变化。基伍湖系统特别不稳定，因为在湖的深水中，溶解的气体含量高得危险，火山和构造的动荡时期可能导致不稳定。先前对火山和地震活跃的基伍湖系统进行的侦察研究已经确定了脆弱湖泊系统的基本组成部分，但数据太少，而且在空间和时间上分布不均匀，无法评估水文、构造、气候和最近人类影响的相对重要性。在尼奥斯湖（喀麦隆）倾覆灾难和2002年尼拉贡戈火山爆发之后的重点研究突出了区域发展与地质灾害之间复杂的相互作用。然而，这些湖沼学、地球物理和沉积学研究的有限的地理范围和重点引起了与数据答案一样多的问题。为了回答这些重要的问题，需要对基伍湖系统、它的构造过程和它的未来进行综合的、多学科的研究。更广泛的影响：会议的主要目的是连接不同的社区，并与真正的国际团队建立一个强大的多学科研究网络。讲习班的目的是同卢旺达境内的能源部门建立牢固的联系，并邀请勘探队参加讲习班。研讨会的目标是建立一项新的东非合作倡议，并设计方案，全面评估和监测基伍湖系统在地震和火山活动构造背景下的稳定性。美国、非洲和欧洲的PI？我们对裂谷进行了实地考察，认为在卢旺达召开会议对于通报危险、告知利益攸关方以及为扩大监测建立支持至关重要。

Dr. Vodacek of the Rochester Institute of Technology will convene a 3-day multidisciplinary workshop in Rwanda for US, African, and European participants designed to develop and enhance understanding of tropical lake systems with emphasis on the gas-charged, tectonically active Kivu rift system. The intent is to integrate data sets and experiences to 1) determine the stability of the main and smaller fault-bounded basins of Lake Kivu and their response to methane mining; 2) evaluate the time and length scales of seismic and volcanic hazards; 3) integrate the sedimentological and tectonic records to deconvolve the tectonic and climatic history of Western rift lakes; and 4) assess the impacts of human activities on the Lake Kivu and its dynamics. Key foreign collaborators are Nicolas d?Oreye (European Centre for Geodynamics and Seismology), Alfred Wüest, (EAWAG), and Crispin Kinabo (University of Dar es Salaam). The foreign collaborators all work actively in the Western rift region and will serve as session chairs and help organize European and African invitee lists.Intellectual Merit: Tropical lakes in the East African rift system preserve a long record of tectonic and climate change and record the environment of hominid evolution. The deep, anoxic lakes of the Western rift system appear stable, yet, the geological record reveals a complex interplay between periodic overturn in response to faulting, volcanism and volcanic degassing, and climate change. The Lake Kivu system is particularly precarious, in that dissolved gas levels are dangerously high within the deep waters of the lake and periods of volcanic and tectonic unrest could lead to destabilization. Previous reconnaissance studies of the volcanically and seismically active Lake Kivu system have identified the fundamental components of the fragile lake system, but data are too few and unevenly distributed in space and time to evaluate the relative importance of hydrological, tectonic, climatic, and recent human impacts. Focused studies after the Lake Nyos (Cameroon) overturn disaster, and the 2002 Nyiragongo volcanic eruption highlighted the complex interplay between regional development and geological hazards. The limited geographic scope and focus of these limnological, geophysical, and sedimentological studies, however, raise as many questions as the data answer. An integrated, multi-disciplinary examination of the Lake Kivu system, its tectonic processes, and its future is required to answer these important questions.Broader impacts: The primary aims of the meeting are to link the diverse communities, and to build a strong network for multi-disciplinary research with a truly international team. The workshop aims to forge strong links with the energy sector within Rwanda, and to invite exploration teams to the workshop. The goals of the workshop are to establish a new initiative for cooperation in East Africa and to design programs to comprehensively evaluate and monitor the stability of the Lake Kivu system within its seismically and volcanically active tectonic setting. Each of the US, African and European PI?s have made field visits to the rift, and it is felt a meeting in Rwanda is essential to communicate hazards, to inform stakeholders, and to build support for expanded monitoring.