America's Deepest Lake Nestled in Mount Mazama
How Crater Lake in Oregon’s National Park was Formed
Jun 9, 2009
The deepest lake in the United States was formed from a collapsed volcano. Mount Mazama, deep within the Cascade Mountain Range of Oregon, erupted violently seven thousand years ago, bequeathing a vast and deep caldera that eventually filled with water.
How Deep is Crater Lake?
This lake’s mesmerising inkiness and its dramatic surroundings form America’s fifth national park. Nestling high in the Cascade Range, the lake is enclosed on all sides by a dramatic jagged rim, rising to nearly 2,000 feet (600 metres) in places. This is twice as high as the Eiffel Tower. Within a mountain range rising to 6,175 feet (1,882 metres) high, winters are long and snowfalls are profuse, often totalling in excess of 50 feet (15 metres) per year. No river flows in or out of the lake, but with such a plentiful supply of melt-water, the lake does not need it. The vast hole had gradually filled with water over thousands of years to the lake's present depth of 1,943 feet (592 metres) making it the deepest lake in the US and the seventh in the world. ("Crater Lake National Park", NPS website, viewed 10 June 2009)
Wizard Island and Phantom Ship
The five-mile (8-kilometre) stretch of the tranquil inky waters is broken by two islands with the enigmatic names Wizard Island and Phantom Ship. At first glance, Mount Mazama would appear to harbour a small version of itself within its crater. But Wizard Island’s conical volcanic shape is indicative of the lake’s unsettled bed. The other island, Phantom ship, to the north of the lake, by contrast sprouts pinnacles of rock that vaguely resemble masts and rigging on ships.
The Klamaths and the Maklaks
Early native Americans, the Klamaths and the Maklaks believed the crater to be a holy place and visited on pilgrimages. The Maklaks believed that Mount Mazama’s convulsions to be a symptom of conflict between Skell, chief of the world above, and Llao, chief of the world below. The mountain quietened only after the slaying of Llao. Amidst the ruins of the decapitated mountain, the quartered body of Llao was hurled into the crater by Skell. The grief of Llao’s followers filled the mountain with their tears, forming the lake. (Discovering the Wonders of our World, Noel Buchanan et al, Reader's Digest, 1993)
The Volcano That Collapsed in on Itself
This magical tale is in fact loosely based on fact. Mount Mazama was once the setting of a series of cataclysmic upheavals. Once 12,000 feet (3,600 metres) in height, Mount Mazama expelled so much rock through its central vent, that the mountain collapsed in on itself. The resultant caldera was 4,000 feet (1,200 metres) deep.
Crater Lake is an enigmatic body of water nestling high upon Mount Mazama in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. The lake, the deepest in the US, is barricaded on all sides by a towering rim. No rivers feed it, but with extraordinary snowfalls in the winter, the lake does not require it. The lake’s basin is actually a caldera formed from a volcano that collapsed in on itself creating a dramatic landscape. The two islands, Wizard Island and Phantom Ship, are evidence of an unsettled lakebed, and add to the haunting beauty of this, America’s fifth national park.
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