Kawah Putih

About

Kawah Putih (Sundanese: ᮊᮝᮂ ᮕᮥᮒᮤᮂ) (English: White Crater) is a crater lake and tourist spot in a volcanic crater about 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Kawah Putih Lake (7.10° S 107.24° E) is one of the two craters that make up Mount Patuha, an andesitic stratovolcano (a "composite" volcano). Mount Patuha is one of numerous volcanoes in Java. Kawah Putih Crater Lake itself represents a relatively stable volcanic system with no record of significant activity since around 1600. The Kawah Putih site was opened to visitors in 1987. The lake is 2,430 metres (7, 970 ft) above sea level, where temperatures are frequently around 10 °C (50 °F). This makes a brisk change from the humidity of the north Java plain and the capital city of Jakarta. Kawah Putih is a sizeable highly acid lake (pH 0.5-1.3) that changes colour from bluish to whitish green, or brown, depending on the concentration of sulfur and the temperature or the oxidation state. The sand and rocks surrounding the lake have been also leached into whitish colours through interaction with the acidic lake waters (with possible mineral precipitation as well).

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.