Crater Lake

	deepest freshwater lake in the U.S 1932 ft = 589 m.
	7th deepest in the world
	6 mile long
	4.5 mile large

Crater Lake lies in the huge bowl-shaped caldera of Mt Mazama, a volcano that caved-in about 6,800 years ago, climaxing a series of violent eruptions.

Later eruptions created the small volcano you can see on this picture, known today as Wizard Island, and sealed the caldera floor with lava flows. Geologists estimate that after the lava cooled, it may have taken nearly 800 years for snow and rain to fill the lake.

Rangers were quite proud to tell visitors that the roads had just been freed from snow two days before...

Pinnacles (lava tubes remaining after the volcano had eroded).

In the crater...

Why so blue ?

Sunlight entering the crystal-clear water contains many colors :

	red light is absorbed near the surface where its energy is converted to heat.
	yellow light penetrates a little deeper before being absorbed.
	but blue can travel to great depths where it causes electrons in water molecules to vibrate and re-radiate light in the blue waterlenghts. This scattered blue light is what the eye sees.

Return to http://mahaut.fr/ - Updated 18 oct. 2008