Geology Picture of the Week, September 9-15, 2007: Japan's Picturesque Takichiho Gorge

Higo Blog ^ | May 2004 | Higo

[cogitator]

Found this in the "waterfall" theme -- and only after taking a look at a few pictures did I realize this is another in my thematic category of waterfalls associated with columnar basalt! This place is almost beyond category in terms of geologic beauty. There are other pictures of the place on the Web; search with "Takachiho Gorge". Three views below.

Note bridge at top for scale. And the rowboats, of course.

[cogitator]

For context, this gorge runs through a lava flow from Mt. Aso, on the island of Kyushu. Mt. Aso is the largest volcano in Japan, and is still quite active, last erupting very recently in 2004. Aso's caldera has a long dimension of 25 km and a short dimension of 18 km. One reference calls it the largest caldera the world. (Google and Wikipedia: don't I sound smart?)

Here's an image of part of the Aso caldera:

and here's proof that it is certainly still active (one of the four main peaks in the caldera hosts this steaming acid lake):

The Japanese people may like soaking in communal hot tubs, but they won't be soaking in this one.

[cogitator]

** Truly Scenic PING **

[mathluv]

I always share with my daughter. She teaches 6th grade science, with one class of 7th, and one of Robotics thrown in this year. She was a geology major in college.

Thanks so much for doing this!

[Lil'freeper]

Pretty!

[geezerwheezer]

This is really fantastic. Thanks.

[Steve Van Doorn]

very sweet picks cogitator. thanks