Mount Zaō

Mount Zaō (蔵王山, Zaō-zan) is a complex volcano on the border between Yamagata Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. It consists of a cluster of stratovolcanoes and is the most active volcano in northern Honshu. The central volcano of the group includes several lava domes and a tuff cone, Goshiki-dake, which contains a crater lake named "Okama" (御釜). Also known as the "Five Color Pond" (五色沼, goshiki numa) because it changes color depending on the weather, it lies in a crater formed by a volcanic eruption in the 1720s. The lake is 360 metres (1,200 ft) in diameter and 60 m (200 ft) deep, and is one of the main tourist attractions in the area.

Mount Zaō
蔵王山
Mount Zaō with Sakura
Highest point
Elevation1,841 m (6,040 ft)
Coordinates38°08′28″N 140°26′35″E 
Geography
Mount Zaō
Geology
Mountain typeComplex volcano
Last eruptionMay 1940

One striking feature of Zaō's famous ski resorts is the snow monsters (樹氷, Juhyō) that appear in mid-winter. Strong wind over the nearby lake fling water droplets which freeze against the trees and their branches, until near-horizontal icicles begin to form. Falling snow settles on the ice formations, and the end result is a grotesque figure of a tree. The effect of a full forest of such trees gives visitors a ghostly impression. Zaō is one of the 100 famous mountains in Japan.

Rotaria rotatoria[1] and Pinnularia spp.[2] are found in the acidic Okama Lake.[3]

  • Relief Map
  • Okama Crater
  • Okama Crater
  • Snow monsters

See also

References

"Zao". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution.

  1. Deneke, Rainer (2000). "Review of rotifers and crustaceans in highly acidic environments of pH values ≤ 3". Hydrobiologia. 433 (1–3): 167–172. doi:10.1023/a:1004047510602.
  2. Negoro, K (1940). "A Pinnularia from Okama, an acidotrophic crater lake of volcano Zao". Jap. J. Limnol. 9: 176–179. doi:10.3739/rikusui.9.176.
  3. Anzai, T (1938). "Limnological observation of Okama, a crater lake of Volcano Zaō". Jap. J. Limnol. 8 (3–4): 264–272. doi:10.3739/rikusui.8.3-4_264.


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