Was the lethal eruption of Lake Nyos related to a double CO2/H2O density inversion?

The 1986 lethal eruption of Lake Nyos (Cameroon) was caused by a sudden inversion between deep, CO2-loaded bottom lake waters and denser, gas-free surface waters. A deep CO2 source has been found in fluid inclusions which occur predominantly in clinopyroxenes from lherzolitic mantle xenoliths, brought to the surface by the last erupted alkali basalts. P–T conditions of CO2 trapping correspond to a gas density equal (or higher) than that of liquid water. It is suggested that this dense CO2, found in many ultrabasic mantle xenoliths worldwide, has accumulated at km depth, below a column of descending lake water. It may remain in a stable state for a long period, as long as the temperature is above the density inversion temperature for pure H2O/CO2 systems. At an estimated depth of about 3 km, cooling by descending waters (to about 30 °C) induces a density inversion for the upper part of the CO2 reservoir. This causes a constant, regular upstream of low-density CO2 which, in its turn, feeds the shallower lake density inversion.