Th.G. Sahama's (1910-1983) volcanological and mineralogical studies in Africa: Part I. Expeditions to the Virunga Volcanic Field and petrological- mineralogical studies on the Nyiragongo volcano

Abstract

The alkaline lavas of Mt. Nyiragongo in the Virunga Volcanic Field (western branch of the East African Rift), as well as the granitic pegmatites and hydrothermal mineral deposits of eastern and southern Africa, were the main research topics of Professor Th.G. Sahama (University of Helsinki) during thirty years. During several expeditions 1952–1972 to the Virunga Field, Sahama and his team collected large amounts of samples from the foot plane, flank flows, caldera walls, and the lava lake of Mt Nyiragongo, which were studied in Helsinki University and in Brussels. The lavas turned out to be feldspar-free nephelinites, leucitites and melilitites containing as major constituents nepheline, leucite, melilite, kalsilite, and clinopyroxene in varying proportions. The Nyiragongo lavas are more alkaline than the other volcanics of the Virunga Field. Sahama and his team found and described six new silicate minerals from the Nyiragongo lavas: gotzenite, combeite, kirschsteinite, trikalsilite, delhayelite, and andremeyerite, some of which locally represent the main constituents of the rocks. Sahama concluded that the Nyiragongo lavas crystallized from mantle-derived magmas without significant crustal contamination. The crustal magma chamber was layered, and the eruption started with melilite nephelinite (bergalite) magmas from the top of the chamber, followed by nepheline leucitite magmas and finally by melilite-leucite nephelinite (“nepheline-aggregate lava”) melts. Sahama’s studies aroused great international interest among petrologists and mineralogists, which has activated further systematic geochemical, mineralogical and isotopic studies in the area.