:Lake Mashū
{{Short description|Crater lake in Akan Mashu National Park, Hokkaido island, Japan}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name = Lake Mashū
摩周湖
| image = Lake_Mashū_Japan_during_wintertime_in_Akan_National_Park_Hokkaidō.jpg
| caption = Lake Mashū, Japan, during winter
| image_bathymetry =
| caption_bathymetry =
| location = Teshikaga, Kushiro Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan
| coords = {{coord|43|35|N|144|31|E|type:waterbody_region:JP|display=inline,title}}
| type = crater lake, endorheic
| pushpin_map = Japan
| inflow = two streams
| outflow = seepage
| catchment = {{convert|32.4|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}
| basin_countries = Japan
| length = {{convert|6|km|mi|abbr=on}}
| width =
| area = {{convert|19|km2|acre|abbr=on}}
| depth = {{convert|137.5|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| max-depth = {{convert|211.5|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| volume = {{convert|2.86|km3|mi3|abbr=on}}
| residence_time =
| shore = {{convert|19.8|km|mi|abbr=on}}
| elevation = {{convert|351|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| islands = Kamuishu Island
| cities = none
| frozen = December to April
}}
{{nihongo|Lake Mashū|摩周湖|Mashū-ko}} (Ainu: Kamuy-to) is an endorheic crater lake formed in the caldera of a potentially active volcano. It is located in Akan Mashu National Park on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. It has been called the clearest lake in the world.
Hydrology
File:Hokkaido, Japan, Lake Mashū, 2008.jpg
File:Lake masyu landsat.jpg image of the lake (1999)]]
File:Kamui-nupuri and mashu-dake on hokkaido map.jpg]]
Lake Mashū is surrounded by steep crater walls {{convert|200|m|ft}} high. It has no significant inlets{{cite web|url=http://www.ilec.or.jp/database/asi/asi-22.html|title=MASHU-KO (LAKE MASHU)|work=World Lakes Database|publisher=International Lake Environment Committee|accessdate=2008-10-15|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229165323/http://www.ilec.or.jp/database/asi/asi-22.html|archivedate=2012-02-29}} and no outlet. The lake is one of the clearest in the world and one of the deepest in Japan.{{cite book|last=Bisignani|first=J. D.|title=Japan Handbook|editor=Taran March|publisher=Moon Publications, Inc.|location=Chico, California|date=December 1993|edition=Second|pages=[https://archive.org/details/japanhandbook0000bisi/page/805 805–807]|chapter=Doto~Eastern Hokkaido|isbn=0-918373-70-0|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/japanhandbook0000bisi/page/805}} On August 1, 1931, the transparency of the water was measured at {{convert|41.6|m|ft}}. Around the same time Lake Baikal was measured {{convert|40.5|m|ft}}. This is the basis for the lake's claim to be the clearest in the world. Since the 1950s the transparency has tended to range between {{convert|20|and|30|m|ft}}.{{cite journal|date=September 2004|title=GEMS/Water 摩周湖モニタリングデータブック|journal=Cger's Supercomputer Monograph Report |publisher=Center for Global Environmental Research|issn=1341-4356|language=Japanese|url=http://www.cger.nies.go.jp/publications/report/m016/M016.pdf}} The loss in transparency is probably due to the introduction of sockeye salmon and rainbow trout into the lake and landslides.NHK World HD Channel At the same time, the clarity of Lake Baikal has not been measured.{{cite web|url=http://www.lake-akan.com/en/eastern/mashu/index.html|title=Lake Mashu|work=Highlights: Eastern Hokkaido|publisher=Akan Tourism Association & Community Development Promotion Organization |accessdate=2008-10-15}}
In summer, the surface of Lake Mashū is often obscured by fog. There is usually fog covering around the lake for about 100 days of the year. This has given the lake a reputation for mysteriousness.{{cite book |last=Hunt |first=Paul |title=Hiking in Japan: An Adventurer's Guide to the Mountain Trails |publisher=Kodansha International |year=1988 |isbn=0-87011-893-5 |edition=First |location=New York and Tokyo |pages=195–200 |chapter=32. Climbing an Active Volcano: Meakan-dake}} A local legend says that if a person can see the surface of the lake, they will have bad luck.
Origin of the name
The origin of Lake Mashū's name is unclear. The lake's original Ainu name was Kintan-kamuy-to or lake of the mountain god. Ainu language researcher Nagata Housei proposed that the Japanese name originated from the Ainu Mas-un-to or lake of the gulls.{{Cite web |date=2024-05-31 |title=Lake Mashu DATA (摩周湖DATA) |url=https://www.masyuko.or.jp/enjoy/sightseeing/spot/mashu_2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414112030/https://www.masyuko.or.jp/enjoy/sightseeing/spot/mashu_2 |archive-date=2024-04-14 |access-date=2024-05-31 |website=masyuko.or.jp}} This was then rendered as {{nihongo|Lake Mashin|魔神湖|Mashin-ko}} by the Japanese. Over time, however, the Japanese began to refer to the lake by the Japanese reading for the neighboring peak, {{nihongo|Mount Mashū|摩周岳|Mashū-dake}}.{{nihongo|Akagi Sanpei|赤木 三兵}}, {{nihongo|Journey of Hokkaidō Place Names—Notes on Ainu Language Place Names|北海道 地名の旅—アイヌ語地名解 |Hokkaidō Chimei no Tabi — Ainugo Chimei Kai}}, page 128, (in Japanese). The kanji for this peak translate roughly as scrubbed area mountain. The Ainu name for this peak, by which it is commonly known today, is Kamuinupuri or mountain of the gods. The lake also retains its Ainu name in a shortened form, as Kamuyto or lake of the gods.
Volcanic caldera
File:Kussharo Caldera & Mashu Caldera Relief Map, SRTM-1.jpg (left) & Mashu Caldera (right)]]
Mashū formed less than 32,000 years ago. The caldera is the remains of a stratovolcano, which is actually a parasitic cone of the larger Lake Kussharo caldera. The eruption that created the current caldera occurred around 7,000 years ago. The last eruption was a plinian eruption about 2,000 years ago that dropped pumice over the region.
Mashū volcano is rated with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 6, the third highest among large volcanoes.{{cite web |url=http://www.allcountries.org/ranks/volcano_explocivity_index_ranks.html |title=Large Volcano Explocivity Index |accessdate=2011-03-08}}
Two volcanoes have grown out of the Mashū caldera. Kamuishu Island, a lava dome which rises from the middle of the lake, is one. The other is Mount Kamui, a stratovolcano with lava dome, which forms the highest point on the eastern shore. A third volcano neighbors Kamuinupuri. It is Mount Nishibetsu. Mount Nishibetsu probably predates the caldera.
The main rock type of the volcanoes is andesite and dacite. The rock is non-alkali pyroclastic flow or mafic rock, dating from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene. Some rock around the Mashū crater and Mount Nishibetsu is older still, dating from the Middle Pleistocene.{{cite web|url=http://riodb02.ibase.aist.go.jp/db084/kihon/hokkaido_e.xml|title=Hokkaido|year=2007|work=Seamless Digital Geological Map of Japan|publisher=Geological Survey of Japan, AIST|accessdate=2010-09-28|archive-date=2013-01-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130106003942/http://riodb02.ibase.aist.go.jp/db084/kihon/hokkaido_e.xml|url-status=dead}}
The following table lists the eruptions of the Mashū volcano and Kamuinupuri.{{cite gvp|vnum=285081|title=Mashu: Eruptive History|vtab=Eruptions|accessdate=2020-03-23}}
| class="wikitable" |
| Volcano
! Date of eruption ! Dating technique ! VEI ! Tephra volume ! Type |
|---|
| Mashū
| 7400 BC ± 200 years | Corrected radiocarbon | 4 | {{convert|440000000|m3|mi3}} | Explosive eruption |
| Mashū
| 6600 BC ± 50 years | Corrected radiocarbon | 6 | {{convert|11000000000|m3|mi3}} | Explosive eruption of the central vent with pyroclastic flow and caldera collapse |
| Mount Kamui
| 2750 BC ± 100 years | Corrected radiocarbon | | | Explosive eruption of a flank vent |
| Mount Kamui
| 1400 BC ± 100 years | Corrected radiocarbon | | | Explosive eruption of a flank vent |
| Mount Kamui
| 100 BC ± 500 years | | | Explosive eruption |
| Mount Kamui
| 300 AD ± 75 years | Corrected radiocarbon | | | Explosive eruption |
| Mount Kamui
| 970 AD ± 100 years | Uncorrected radiocarbon | 5 | {{convert|1000000000|m3|mi3}} | Explosive eruption of a flank vent and caldera collapse |
Flora and fauna
The lake is inhabited by phytoplankton and zooplankton.
Sockeye salmon and rainbow trout have been introduced to the lake.
On the slopes around and above the lake grow a mixture of evergreen forest with Picea jezoensis and Abies sachalinensis and birch forest with Betula ermanii.
Economy
The Mashu-dake Hiking Course is a trail that goes along the crater rim and to the top of Mount Mashū. The trail leads through forest and grassland for about seven kilometers and takes about 2.5 to 3 hours to hike one way. There are no settlements along the shores of the lake. Access to the lakeshore itself is prohibited by the Ministry of the Environment (Japan). Visitors may only view the lake from the designated observation towers.
In popular culture
Sendoff Spring in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl and Pokémon Platinum is based on this lake as the Sinnoh region is a fictionalized version of Hokkaido.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Lake Mashū}}
- [http://www.data.jma.go.jp/svd/vois/data/sapporo/103_Mashu/103_index.html Mashu] - Japan Meteorological Agency {{in lang|ja}}
- {{cite web|url= http://www.data.jma.go.jp/svd/vois/data/tokyo/STOCK/souran_eng/volcanoes/004_mashu.pdf |title=Mashu: National catalogue of the active volcanoes in Japan }} - Japan Meteorological Agency
- [https://gbank.gsj.jp/volcano/Quat_Vol/volcano_data/B14.html Mashu] - Geological Survey of Japan
- [http://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=285081 Mashu: Global Volcanism Program] - Smithsonian Institution
- [https://www.masyuko.or.jp Teshikaga navi] - Teshikaga Town
{{Authority control}}
{{Lakes of Japan}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mashu}}
Category:Endorheic lakes of Asia
Category:Volcanic crater lakes
Category:Volcanoes of Hokkaido