Geology Picture of the Week, July 17-23: Crater Lake

NASA Earth Observatory ^ | NASA, others

[cogitator]

The view from space:

and underwater:

and classically:

[cogitator]

Reason: on my trip two weeks ago to Seattle, I saw this from the air for the first time. Very cool aerial view; we paralleled the Western Range for quite a time. I saw Mono Lake, Crater Lake, Mount Lassen and Mount Shasta from the air (and of course Rainier on approach, but just a glimpse through the window on the opposite side of the plane).

Also flew over the Grand Canyon both ways, connecting through Phoenix -- straight down Oak Creek Canyon over Sedona on the return trip. AND saw parts of the eastern Washington State scablands leaving Seattle.

People who watch the movies on airplanes sometimes don't know what they're missing!

[cogitator]

[cogitator]

** ping **

I don't know what happened to the first image; I reposted it in my comment above this. It looked fine in the preview.

[jtminton]

You'd dig this.

[skeeter]

Crater Lake facts. Interestingly, the bottom of the lake is nearly equal to sea level.

maximum depth (July 2000) 594 m 1,949 ft
maximum depth (Year 1959) 589 m 1,932 ft
minimum depth (near Phantom Ship) 5-8 m 15-25 ft
average depth 350 m 1,148 ft
max diameter of caldera at the rim 9.7 km (east-west) 6.02 mi (east-west)
min diameter of caldera at the rim 7.3 km (north-south) 4.54 mi (north-south)
surface area 52.9 km2 20.42 mi2, 13,069 acres
highest peak in the park (Mount Scott) 2,721.6 m 8,929 ft
highest peak on the rim (Hillman Peak) 2,484.4 m 8,151 ft
average height of the caldera rim 2,188 m above sea level
(305 m above lake surface) 7,178 ft above sea level (1,000 ft above lake surface)
record clarity depth (August 1994) 40.8 m 134 ft
average clarity depth 27.4-30.5 m 90-100 ft

[Suzy Quzy]

I was just at Crater Lake two weeks ago and have this same picture!! It is AWESOME....so BLUE and CLEAR!!

If anyone wants a scenic vacation come to the Pacific Northwest! You can see glaciers and deserts in the same day or almost.

[Suzy Quzy]

How did they get the BOAT down there?? Helicopter? The tourist boat looks like a speck.

[neb52]

Pretty cool, there are two bodies and a helicopter down on the bottom from Eurocopter. They never retieved the remains due to costs.