Which volcano is the world’s only currently active volcano known to erupt carbonatite lava?

Ol Doinyo Lengai is the world’s only currently active volcano known to erupt carbonatite lava.

The volcano stands in Tanzania’s East African Rift and is sacred to the Maasai people, whose name for it means “Mountain of God.” Unlike ordinary silicate lava, its carbonatite lava is rich in sodium and potassium carbonate minerals and contains very little silica.

Carbonatite lava erupts at unusually low temperatures compared with basaltic lava. It can appear black when fresh, then rapidly turn gray or white as it reacts with moisture and weathers. This unusual chemistry makes Ol Doinyo Lengai a major natural laboratory for volcanologists.

The volcano is sometimes mistaken for a conventional basaltic cone because of its shape and East African setting. Nearby Mount Meru is also a major Tanzanian volcano, but it does not share Ol Doinyo Lengai’s uniquely documented active carbonatite eruptions.