Uploads from f0rbe5, tagged eruption

Wizard Island and Crater Lake

nobody@flickr.com (f0rbe5) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 12:17:43 -0800

f0rbe5 posted a photo:

Wizard Island is a volcanic cinder cone which forms an island at the west end of Crater Lake in Crater Lake National Park, OR. The top of the island reaches 2,113m above sea level, about 230m above the average surface of the lake. The cone is capped by a volcanic crater about 150m wide and 30m deep. The crater was named the "Witches Cauldron" by Will G Steel in 1885, who also gave Wizard Island its name at the same time. The land area of the island is just under 316 acres.

Wizard Island was created after Mount Mazama, a large stratovolcano, erupted violently some 7,700 years ago, forming the caldera which now contains Crater Lake. Following the cataclysmic eruption, which left a hole about 1,200m deep where the mountain had once stood, a series of smaller eruptions over the next several hundred years formed several cinder cones on the caldera floor. The highest of these, and the only one to rise above the current lake level, is that of Wizard Island, which rises over 820m above the lowest point on the caldera floor and the deepest point in the lake.

Another large cinder cone, Merriam Cone, is located in the north-east part of the lake. It rises about 430m above the caldera floor, but its summit is still 154m below the average lake level. Its surface features and lack of a crater indicate that Merriam Cone formed underwater.

Lake Corangamite Countryside

nobody@flickr.com (f0rbe5) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:39:40 -0800

f0rbe5 posted a photo:

This shot is taken from the viewpoint at Red Rock near Alvie in Victoria, Australia, and is looking slightly east of north, along the length of Lake Corangamite Road which stretches into the distance towards an arm of the lake just below the horizon. Lake Corangamite is Victoria’s largest natural lake, located in the Lakes and Craters region of the Victorian Volcanic Plains. The lake is hypersaline, and salinity levels have increased dramatically as the lake level has dropped in recent decades. It is Australia's largest permanent saline lake, covering approximately 230 sq km with a circumference of about 150 km.

It is surrounded to the south and east by rocky outcrops (known locally as the stony rises) which were formed by lava flows from Mount Porndon to the south-west and Mount Warrion to the east. The spectacular Red Rocks maar crater complex overlooks the south-west shore. Red Rocks is the site of 30 overlapping eruption centres in an area of just 12 sq km. Radiocarbon dating indicates that these eruptions took place some 8,000 years ago. The Mount Warrion flows caused the lake to form by blocking drainage to the east.

As is typical of lakes in the area, the eastern flanks of the lake consist of lunettes formed by wind-borne sediments blown from the lake during periods with dry climates. Flow into the lake is extremely variable and negligible in the driest years. Currently there is no outflow but during the wet decade of the 1950s the lake flooded and became connected via a series of wetlands and lakes to Lake Murdeduke and the Barwon River. It has never been completely dry since European settlement. However, levels have been dropping for decades and it is possible that it will dry completely. In 1980 the salinity was approximately that of seawater and has since risen to at least four times that of seawater.

Mirrored Cliffs

nobody@flickr.com (f0rbe5) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 11:52:41 -0700

f0rbe5 posted a photo:

Crater Lake in the afternoon, with a perfect mirror reflection of its surrounding cliffs. To give a sense of scale, the Phantom Ship island in the foreground is over 50m high! Crater Lake occupies the caldera of Mount Mazama, a super-volcano.

Lake Ngakoro, Wai-O-Tapu

nobody@flickr.com (f0rbe5) — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 09:45:26 -0800

f0rbe5 posted a photo:

Ngakoro translates as The Grandfather. The lake was formed by a volcanic eruption more than 7,000 years ago. It is still geothermally active out beyond the left of this shot, where steam still rises at the shoreline. The water entering the lake in the foreground comes down a small waterfall from Frying Pan Flat.