Lava Lakes: The Exposed Guts of Volcanoes

Lava Lakes: The Exposed Guts of Volcanoes

exposed guts lakes lava Other volcanoes

Most volcanoes have a deep inner chamber of molten rocks, but this chamber is typically capped shut by cooled, solid rock. But sometimes the magma chamber is exposed at the top of the volcano in a giant caldera of rolling, bubbling and spluttering lava. This happens when an active volcano continuously pushes new molten rocks up the vent to form a pool inside the caldera, while solidified lava sinks back into the depth to be re-melted. Volcanologists often describe lava lakes as “windows into the heart of volcanoes.”

“Persistant lava lakes are very rare, and require a delicate equilibrium between heat supply and heat loss,” says VolcanoDiscovery.com. “Heat supply is provided by rising magmatic gasses from the magma chamber through a liquid-filled conduit, and is counterbalanced by intense heat lost at the surface of the lava lake.”



The lava lake of Mount Nyiragongo. Photo credit: Olivier Grunewald/Boston.com

photofun4ucom Pada June 23, 2016 Komentar

The Alpine Lakes And Waterfalls of Jiuzhaigou

The Alpine Lakes And Waterfalls of Jiuzhaigou

alpine jiuzhaigou lakes Nature waterfalls

The Jiuzhaigou Valley, located at the foot of the snow-capped Minshan Mountain, in the north of Sichuan province, China, is a place of exceptional beauty. A nature reserve and a national park, Jiuzhaigou is known for its spectacular jagged alpine mountains, coniferous forests, blue, green and turquoise-colored lakes, waterfalls, limestone terraces, caves and other beautiful features.

The magic of Jiuzhaigou lies in the water —the alpine lakes and waterfalls. There are more than one hundred lakes in this valley with water so clear that the bottom is often visible even at high depths. The lakes also vary in color according to their depths, residues, and surroundings, as well as by season and time of the day. The local Tibetan people call them "Haizi" in Chinese, which means "son of the sea".

The most famous of the lakes of Jiuzhaigou is the Five Flower Lake, also known as Wuhua Lake. It’s a shallow multi-colored lake whose bottom is covered with ancient fallen tree trunks.



The Five Flower Lake. Photo credit: GreenArcher04/Flickr

photofun4ucom Pada June 15, 2016 Komentar