NAGOYA, Nov 02 (News On Japan) –
Ninoike, a 3,067 meter lake as soon as shining in cobalt blue close to the summit of Mount Ontake, has fully dried up, leaving solely mud instead.
Takashiro Kunitomo from the Ontake Volcano Research Institute mentioned, “Not much is known about Ninoike, but one theory is that it was created by a phreatic eruption. It is believed to have formed between 30,000 and 10,000 years ago.”
The lake shaped in a volcanic crater stuffed with water. But why has it disappeared?
Kunitomo defined, “It was buried by volcanic ash from the 2014 eruption.”
In 2014, Mount Ontake skilled Japan’s worst post-war volcanic catastrophe, with 58 individuals killed and 5 reported lacking.
Over the previous ten years, volcanic ash from that eruption has continued to movement in, erasing a lake that’s thought to have existed for over 10,000 years.
Could the lake ever return to its former state?
“I think it would be difficult,” Kunitomo mentioned. “The quickest way would be another phreatic eruption that could create an opening in that spot, but that would also bring damage, which is something we don’t wish for.”
Source: ANN