Mount Mazama Research Paper

The United States currently has many volcanoes, particularly in the Cascade Mountain Range, which includes Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainer, and Crater Lake. Volcanoes have three common features such as craters, caldera, and geysers and hot springs. A caldera is a huge depression that is formed after the eruption from the collapse of a partially emptied magma chamber. In the last million years, ten major caldera formed after eruptions, which included Crater Lake in Oregon. Mount Mazama, also known as Crater Lake, was a large composite volcano that was constructed by the episodic growth of many overlapping shield and composite volcanoes, each of which probably was active for a comparatively brief period, and Mount Mazama has not erupted in 7,700

years (“Oregon Explorer”). Before the eruption, Mount Mazama had a 400,000 year history of activity similar to other Cascade volcanic centers (“Oregon Explorer”). As a result, the caldera-forming eruption of Mount Mazama changed the landscape all around the volcano.
Mount Mazama began its caldera-forming eruption about 7,700 years ago, blowing out a great amount of magma as pyroclastic materials in a few days. Volcanic ash covered parts of the northwestern states to as far as central Canada. The caldera-forming eruption was fed by the magma that had accumulated in a chamber below the surface. As the enormous volume of magma was rapidly removed to feed the eruption, the roof of the magma chamber collapsed, which formed the bowl-shape depression known as a caldera (“Oregon Explorer”). The landscape after the eruption was a scene of devastation, and geologists have determined that the collapse was a quick event during the eruption, which occupied a few hours or days. In addition, the valleys surrounding the volcano were partly filled with pyroclastic flows, and the caldera was also partially filled with pyroclastic materials and rock debris from its unstable walls. Lastly, following the caldera-forming eruption, it took approximately 250 years of rain and snow accumulation for the caldera to fill to its present-day lake level (“Oregon Explorer”).
Mount Mazama is now known as Crater Lake National Park that has a fascinating history and has long inspired reverence and wonder.

As a result of Mount Mazama’s eruption, it lost enough material that the weight of the peak of the volcano could not be supported, and it collapsed upon itself, creating a caldera. Mount Mazama continued to have smaller eruptions, which sealed the caldera floor and created a cinder cone within the caldera, which is now called Wizard Island (“The Crater Lake National Park Trust”). Rain and snow continued to melt gradually over 700 to 1500 years filling the caldera, and thus forming Crater Lake. Today, there is a balance between evaporation and precipitation, and the water level in the lake usually fluctuates less than three feet each year (“The Crater Lake National Park Trust”). In terms of geologic time, Crater Lake is very young, and it is believed that humans likely witnessed the explosion. In fact, a sandal was actually found buried in the ash from the eruption, and Klamath tribes have legends of how Crater Lake originated. Thus, creating a tourist attraction in Oregon for visitors to learn more about the geologic features of Crater

Lake.
Since Crater Lake is now a tourist attraction in Oregon, it is known as Crater Lake National Park. In order to save Crater Lake from harm, the Crater Lake National Park Trust was created to protect, promote, and enhance Crater Lake. It was also formed to preserve Crater Lake’s unique water purity, and its value for human inspiration and knowledge. The Crater Lake National Park Trust is a non-profit organization that envisions a future in which Crater Lake is widely recognized as an Oregon icon and a national treasure. The non-profit organization also sees Crater Lake as a thriving laboratory and classroom in which every Oregonian and growing numbers of others feel a deep connection to and love for (“The Crater Lake National Park Trust”). Therefore, the Crater Lake National Park Trust was formed as a non-profit organization to dedicate itself to fundraising for special park projects and science education programs, particularly for Crater Lake.
Crater Lake and Wizard Island, which rises out of Crater Lake, are a must-see when visiting Oregon.

Crater Lake has 21 square miles of water that is so intensely blue that it looks like link, and is ringed by cliffs towering up to 2,000 feet above (“National Geographic”). The mountain bluebird, Indian legend says, was grey before dipping into the waters of Crater Lake. The Oregon icon is set in a dormant volcano called Mount Mazama, one in the chain of volcanoes in the Cascade Mountain Range that includes Mount St. Helens. Mount Mazama’s eruption catapulted volcanic ash miles into the sky and expelled so much pumice and ash that the summit soon collapsed, created a huge caldera. Rain and snow accumulated in the caldera, forming a lake more than 1,900 feet deep, the deepest lake in the United States (“National Geographic”). Then, wildflowers, hemlock, fir, and pine recolonized surroundings, and black bears and bobcats, deer and marmots, eagles and hawks returned and crafted Crater Lake National

Park.
Crater Lake National Park creates a superb setting for day hikes on a clear summer day. This is due to Crater Lake’s clean air that lets you see more than a hundred miles from points along many of the park’s 90 miles of trails (“National Geographic”). Summer is the best time to visit Crater Lake because the lake is at its best, and there is peak wildflower viewing. Visitors can tour the 33-mile Rim Drive while enjoying its many overlooks and several hiking trails, and tourists can also hike down to the shore for the two-hour narrated boat tour of Crater Lake. Finally, some tours stop at Wizard Island where visitors can climb to the top of it and boat back.