Mount Zaō

The Zaō Mountains (蔵王連峰, Zaō Renpō), commonly called Mount Zaō, are a group of complex volcanoes on the border between Yamagata Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. They consist of a cluster of stratovolcanoes and are the most active volcanoes 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.

Zaō Mountains
蔵王連峰
The Zaō Mountains as seen from the Shiroishi River, an Abukuma River tributary, at the cherry blossom season
Highest point
Elevation1,841 m (6,040 ft)
Listing
Coordinates38°08′28″N 140°26′35″E 
Geography
Zaō Mountains
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. S2CID 25056334.
  2. Negoro, K (1940). "A Pinnularia from Okama, an acidotrophic crater lake of volcano Zao". Jpn. 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". Jpn. J. Limnol. 8 (3–4): 264–272. doi:10.3739/rikusui.8.3-4_264.


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