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A lake I like
Dec. 10th, 2013 01:52 pm... or several, because I can't actually choose; sorry-not-sorry.
First up, of course, is the permanent phonolitic lava lake on Mount Erebus, Antarctica.
Because it's in Antarctica, where summer temperatures can get as high as a balmy -20degC; and because it's at 3800m above sea level; there's no atmospheric water vapour. This means that you can stick infrared sensors on the roof of the huts at base camp and get beautiful, beautiful spectra of the gas plumes coming off the lake - most places, there's so much atmospheric interference that you can't really do this. And the absolutely beautiful thing is that, most of the time, the lake blups along quietly to itself, on an approximately twenty-minute cycle (as lava drains back down to the subterranean reservoir, and undegassed hotter stuff rises), and you can watch the composition of the gas plume changing over the course of that cycle. ... and then sometimes it operates on an eight-hour cycle instead, where every eight hours the entire contents of the lake get kicked out, only for it to slowly refill, and if that happens during field season it makes checking all the monitoring instruments a bit more exciting...
The second is the Ossiachersee, one of about seven big lakes in Austria, and the one in the vicinity of where my family's from.
Because More Austria: the Seenplatten in the Oetztal. There's a gorgeous shoulder 600m up from the valley floor - putting you at 2500 Hohenmeter - and it's beautiful Alpine meadows, with spongy grass and strings of small lakes, and I adore it up there. Along the less-walked patches, there's marmots you can get within three feet of; and on the way up you get to pick and eat bilberries and cranberries.
... and finally, the Emerald Lakes by the Red Crater on the Tongariro Crossing, in NZ, which are absolutely stunning, and are a very nice thing to look down on while you're boot-skiing down the interminable scree. I can't immediately find any photos I think do them justice, so you're going to have to look for yourself to get an impression!
I sort of thought that lakes weren't really a thing I did, particularly - I'm from the Fens, which is swamp; and from Cornwall, which is heath and cliffs - but apparently I do. Huh. :-)
First up, of course, is the permanent phonolitic lava lake on Mount Erebus, Antarctica.
Because it's in Antarctica, where summer temperatures can get as high as a balmy -20degC; and because it's at 3800m above sea level; there's no atmospheric water vapour. This means that you can stick infrared sensors on the roof of the huts at base camp and get beautiful, beautiful spectra of the gas plumes coming off the lake - most places, there's so much atmospheric interference that you can't really do this. And the absolutely beautiful thing is that, most of the time, the lake blups along quietly to itself, on an approximately twenty-minute cycle (as lava drains back down to the subterranean reservoir, and undegassed hotter stuff rises), and you can watch the composition of the gas plume changing over the course of that cycle. ... and then sometimes it operates on an eight-hour cycle instead, where every eight hours the entire contents of the lake get kicked out, only for it to slowly refill, and if that happens during field season it makes checking all the monitoring instruments a bit more exciting...
The second is the Ossiachersee, one of about seven big lakes in Austria, and the one in the vicinity of where my family's from.
Because More Austria: the Seenplatten in the Oetztal. There's a gorgeous shoulder 600m up from the valley floor - putting you at 2500 Hohenmeter - and it's beautiful Alpine meadows, with spongy grass and strings of small lakes, and I adore it up there. Along the less-walked patches, there's marmots you can get within three feet of; and on the way up you get to pick and eat bilberries and cranberries.
... and finally, the Emerald Lakes by the Red Crater on the Tongariro Crossing, in NZ, which are absolutely stunning, and are a very nice thing to look down on while you're boot-skiing down the interminable scree. I can't immediately find any photos I think do them justice, so you're going to have to look for yourself to get an impression!
I sort of thought that lakes weren't really a thing I did, particularly - I'm from the Fens, which is swamp; and from Cornwall, which is heath and cliffs - but apparently I do. Huh. :-)