Crater lake why blue

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Advanced search. Skip to main content Thank you for visiting nature. Download PDF. Rights and permissions Reprints and Permissions. Another study found that introduced species like crayfish eat the native insects in lakes, which can lead to more algae. The signal crayfish is considered the perfect invader. It eats a wide variety of plants and animals and has very few natural predators in Crater Lake.

Those nutrients can make algae grow and make the water more green. But the U. Fish and Wildlife Service stopped stocking many lakes in the s, and the number of lakes that are stocked has continued to decrease ever since. Or it could be even more perplexing. And the more people use a lake, the more nutrients end up in it.

Waldo Lake, which Larson studied for decades, now pumps human waste off site. Earthquake researchers are looking in what may seem like an unlikely place to learn about past Pacific Northwest quakes: lakes. Product Dimensions: 8. Thousands of years ago, the peak of volcanic Mount Mazama erupted, and then fell back into itself, creating a giant crater. The crater slowly filled with rain and melted snow to become one of the deepest, bluest lakes in the world.

In this pristine setting, Sam Hunter thinks he has won the lottery when he lands a job as a seasonal maintenance worker at Crater Lake National Park.

The work won't be glamorous, so he plans to hunker down, earn next year's college tuition and read a few books in his spare time. But when Hunter reports on his first day, a June blizzard is raging. We first sampled the 3. We ran out of time to try that one, but were thankful we ventured a few miles east of Crater Lake to stroll the 4. In all, Crater Lake National Park has 90 miles of hiking trails. One of the other highlights of our August visit was taking the boat tour, which is where we first encountered Grimes.

This is my college friend Dave, and my other college friend Dave. Proceeding clockwise from Cleetwood Cove, the only shore access for visitors, the boats go by such geological gems as cliffside veins through which liquid rock used to flow. Cleetwood Cove, by the way, is a popular swimming spot, too. And whether you intend to swim or take a tour boat, you must walk down to the cove via a steep, 1.

Allow at least 30 minutes for the descent. The serenity is just amazing. You can hike to the top, and get spectacular views. Really interesting geology.

As it sank, its quadrants, painted in alternating colors, remained clearly visible even on the increasingly cloudy day. The tour actually was cut short by an hour due to weather. In it, the good-natured Ettling dispenses dire climatic developments with a spoonful of sugar. He pointed out that Secchi disks remain distinguishable in Crater Lake at a world-leading average depth of feet. Ettling also offered an explanation for why the lake looks so intensely, so soothingly, blue.

How blue?