Story written by:  J.R. Slosson, Lucie Worthen & Yige Yang

In June 2018, twelve EMPOWER students will journey to Rwanda on a field course to learn about the history, culture, and potential energy source of Lake Kivu. In preparation for that field course, EMPOWER trainees are preparing by expanding their knowledge of the lake geology during weekly seminar.

Located on the border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes located in the Great Rift Valley. Students discussed the journal article Stratigraphic framework and lake level history of Lake Kivu, East African Rift by Douglas Wood and Christopher Scholz. The paper shed light on the geologic history of the lake, from ancient deltas to former lake drainage patterns. The students conversed about volcanic eruptions of prehistoric times and analyzed the history told by the sediment core data. Dr. Scholz will be one of the professors leading the EMPOWER field course in Rwanda.  While Lake Kivu is most well-known for the methane produced from the sediment floor as a potential source of power for the Rwandan people, Scholz shed light on alternative reasons for studying the rift valley. The African Rift valley is very similar to an ancient series of rifts here in the eastern United States called the Eastern North America Rift Basins. By studying an active rift valley in Africa, we can better understand how the ancient rift basins of the northeast U.S. were formed, says Scholz. The EMPOWER trainees will continue their education on Lake Kivu next week with background on the lake chemistry related to methane.