Crater Lake
The catastrophic eruption of Mt. Mazama 6900 years ago completely emptied the volcanoes interior. The now void mountain at 4000m gravitationally collapsed into this 54 km² big Crater Lake caldera in Oregon. The present day brink of the volcano at 2200 m is 600 m above the lake level. The deep blue color is a measure of the extreme purity of the water. Wizard Island is Mt. Mazama’s next generation volcano. It grows within the collapsed crater. One day this lava dome will completely fill the caldera again. Not till then the scars of Mt. Mazama are healed and it can explode again. Two deep notches, Sun- and Kerr-Notch, visible in the opposing crater walls are a noteworthiness of Crater Lake. These are vertical cross-sections of glacier beds. These glaciers also exploded during the catastrophic eruption. Their remains are clearly visible by the distinct U-shaped valleys.
August 1996
Pentax K2, Pentax 24mm, f/22, 1/15sec, Kodak Ektachrome E6, ISO 100, polarization filter, tripod