Crater lake

A crater lake is a lake that forms in a volcanic crater or caldera, such as a maar; less commonly and with lower association to the term a lake may form in an impact crater caused by a meteorite, or in an artificial explosion caused by humans. Sometimes lakes which form inside calderas are called caldera lakes, but often this distinction is not made. Crater lakes covering active (fumarolic) volcanic vents are sometimes known as volcanic lakes, and the water within them is often acidic, saturated with volcanic gases, and cloudy with a strong greenish color. For example, the crater lake of Kawah Ijen in Indonesia has a pH of under 0.5. Lakes located in dormant or extinct volcanoes tend to have fresh water, and the water clarity in such lakes can be exceptional due to the lack of inflowing streams and sediment.

Formation

Volcanic crater lakes

Crater lakes form as the created depression, within the crater rim, is filled by water. The water may come from precipitation, groundwater circulation (often hydrothermal fluids in the case of volcanic craters) or melted ice. Its level rises until an equilibrium is reached between the rates of incoming and outgoing water. Sources of water loss singly or together may include evaporation, subsurface seepage, and, in places, surface leakage or overflow when the lake level reaches the lowest point on its rim. At such a saddle location, the upper portion of the lake is contained only by its adjacent natural volcanic dam; continued leakage through or surface outflow across the dam can erode its included material, thus lowering lake level until a new equilibrium of water flow, erosion, and rock resistance is established. If the volcanic dam portion erodes rapidly or fails catastrophically, the occurrence produces a breakout or outburst flood. With changes in environmental conditions over time, the occurrence of such floods is common to all natural dam types.

Crater Lake (Colorado)

Crater Lake is a mountain lake in the Elk Mountains, Pitkin County of the US State of Colorado. It lies just northeast of the Maroon Bells and just northwest of Pyramid Peak. The view of the striated Maroon Bells from Crater Lake and the view from nearby Maroon Lake are two of the most photographed mountain scenes in the United States.


Crater Lake

Crater Lake is a caldera lake in the western United States, located in south-central Oregon. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fills a nearly 2,148-foot (655 m)-deep caldera that was formed around 7,700 (± 150) years ago by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama. There are no rivers flowing into or out of the lake; the evaporation is compensated for by rain and snowfall at a rate such that the total amount of water is replaced every 250 years. With a depth of 1,943 feet (592 m), the lake is the deepest in the United States, and the seventh or ninth deepest in the world, depending on whether average or maximum depth is measured.

Crater Lake is also known for the "Old Man of the Lake", a full-sized tree which is now a stump that has been bobbing vertically in the lake for over a century. The low temperature of the water has slowed the decomposition of the wood, hence the longevity of the bobbing tree.

Crater Lake (Idaho)

Crater Lake is an alpine lake in Custer County, Idaho, United States, located in the White Cloud Mountains in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The lake is accessed from an old dirt road along Livingston Creek.

Crater Lake is just north of the Chinese Wall and is surrounded by several old mines.

References

See also

  • List of lakes of the White Cloud Mountains
  • Sawtooth National Recreation Area
  • White Cloud Mountains

  • Crater Lake (disambiguation)

    Crater Lake may refer to:

  • Crater lake, a general term
  • Crater Lake, a lake in Oregon, United States.
  • Crater Lake (Philippines), a lake in Luzon, Philippines.
  • Crater Lake (Colorado), a lake in Elk Mountains of Colorado.
  • Crater Lake (Deathlands novel), a book
  • Volcano Lake, a lake on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
  • Crater Lake, a lake near Cradle Mountain, Tasmania, Australia.
  • Crater Lake (South Shetland Islands), a lake in Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica
  • Crater Lake (South Shetland Islands)

    Crater Lake is a volcanic crater, now filled with water, lying north-west of Mount Kirkwood on the south side of Deception Island, in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. The descriptive name was given by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) in 1959.

    Antarctic Specially Protected Area

    The site forms part of an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA 140), comprising several separate sites on Deception Island, and designated as such primarily for its botanic and ecological values.

    References

     This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Crater Lake (South Shetland Islands)" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).

    Coordinates: 62°59′S 60°40′W / 62.983°S 60.667°W / -62.983; -60.667


    Podcasts:

    PLAYLIST TIME:

    Crater Lake

    by: Liz Phair

    Once you've left a lonely rage on its own, it grows
    And dynamite stuffed in a mailbox doesn't smoke until it blows
    And, oh, all the tears in four tiny years
    Well, look at me, I'm frightening my friends
    You better roll me
    I bought a map of the moon
    There's a crater with my name on it and a really good view
    There I was, getting drunk in your room
    Because I wanted to throw my weight around
    And, oh, all the tears in four tiny years
    Well, look at me, I'm frightening my friends
    You better roll me home
    You better roll me home




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    Reverend Ronald Lewis Hankey - exploreClarion

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