As our bus ascended the remains of Mt. Mazama, we had lovely views outside the bus. As we came onto the rim of the crater, the entire busload sighed audibly as our eyes fell on this scene. Such beauty. Here's the short and simple history of this volcano. Mt. Mazama was a composite volcano that formed on top of an older shield volcano. About 7700 years ago, Mt. Mazama erupted with great force, ejecting material miles away. It erupted for such a length of time that the magma chamber emptied. The cone above the chamber was so heavy, that the ceiling of the magma chamber collapsed, essentially swallowing the top of the volcano as it fell into its own chamber. This chamber was so large, that even with all the mountainous material now filling the chamber, the crater was still able to fill with water to be a lake almost 2000 feet deep.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
07-16-09 First View of Crater Lake
As our bus ascended the remains of Mt. Mazama, we had lovely views outside the bus. As we came onto the rim of the crater, the entire busload sighed audibly as our eyes fell on this scene. Such beauty. Here's the short and simple history of this volcano. Mt. Mazama was a composite volcano that formed on top of an older shield volcano. About 7700 years ago, Mt. Mazama erupted with great force, ejecting material miles away. It erupted for such a length of time that the magma chamber emptied. The cone above the chamber was so heavy, that the ceiling of the magma chamber collapsed, essentially swallowing the top of the volcano as it fell into its own chamber. This chamber was so large, that even with all the mountainous material now filling the chamber, the crater was still able to fill with water to be a lake almost 2000 feet deep.
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