Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano in northeastern Tanzania has a different and anomalous behavior compared to other such formations. In it, the lava erupts at just 510 ° C, which is half the temperature that the lava normally reaches elsewhere - so much so that a man has already fallen into his crater and left alive from there!

Another detail is that the lava of this volcano is much more liquid than normal, flowing almost like water! And if that anomalous behavior wasn't enough, Ol Doinyo Lengai seems to be about to have a massive eruption! And if that happens, the history of humanity will suffer a great thud.

Within a few months or a few years, it should explode, potentially endangering the archaeological sites located around the volcano - a region known as Olduvai Gorge. "There is an increase in ash emissions and the incidence of earthquakes, as well as the rise of small volcanic cones and an ever larger crack at the top of the volcano on the west side, " said volcanologist Sarah Stamps.

19, 000-year-old footprints with volcano in the background: destruction is virtually certain

The archaeological and paleontological sites of this region are some of the oldest on the planet. An eruption of this volcano would surely cover footprints that have been imprinted on the ground for at least 19, 000 years! Scholars have managed to catalog at least 400 of these marks - so much so that this high incidence made the plain around the volcano called a "dance hall."

The 3.6 million-year-old Laetoli site appears to be a bit safer: it is 114 km away from Ol Doinyo Lengai, but is also threatened if the impending eruption is larger than expected. . Today, we are able to 3D scan all these marks, but we have no way to remove them from the ground. The way will be to wait for this catastrophe to actually happen.

Getting Started: Footprints over 3 million years old are threatened