These Lakes Shouldn't Be Three Different Colors
On top of a volcano in Indonesia, there are three lakes. But these three neighbors couldn't be more different, since each of them is a different vivid hue. Let's talk about the weird chemistry atop Keli Mutu Volcano and the three Technicolor lakes that it's produced.
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Sources:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQa8rfsbUJwDF1Ijnu-JBM-fgHgkeHwSI6b6t8QMiAc8m85XEXVwul1QWp41q61usqkkXaDk_-xUXRL/pub
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Video Transcript
At the top of the Kelimutu volcano in Indonesia, you'll find three lakes, all sitting right next to each other.
Two of them even share a wall.
But each one is a different, vivid color.
And sometimes, those colors change.
So why are they all different, and where do those striking colors come from?
The short answer is that they're all connected to the deeper volcanic system in different ways.
And as scientists were studying how that's possible, they came across something even cooler.
A new technique that could help us study color-changing landscapes all over the world.
[♪ OUTRO MUSIC ♪ And thanks for watching! ♪
Kelimutu is a cone-shaped stratovolcano on the island of Flores in Indonesia.
Some locals say that its three lakes are home to the souls of the dead.
The easternmost lake is Tiwuatapolo, which loosely translates to Bewitched Lake or Enchanted Lake.
It's believed to house the departed souls of bad people.
Right next to Tiwuatapolo is Tiwunuamurikofai, the Lake of Young Men and Maidens.
And a little ways to the west lies the Lake of the Elders, Tiwauata Bupu.
While Kelimutu's last eruption was back in 1968, it's been steadily leaking volcanic
gases through both underground and underwater vents for decades.
And it's thanks to those gases, along with deposits from within the volcanic system,
that all three of the lakes get their rich colors.
But what's even cooler is that they've all changed color at different points in the past.
Tiwu atopolo and Tiwunuamuriko'owhai are usually some variation of green or turquoise,
but Tiwu atopolo sometimes turns dark red, and Tiwunuamuriko'owhai occasionally shifts
to white.
Tiwu atabupu has been white or green before, but it's black now.
Despite being fed by the same volcanic system, each of these lakes has its own unique chemistry
that gives them their distinctive colors.
Or at least, we think so.
There hasn't been a lot of fieldwork done on the actual chemical composition of the lakes.
It's pretty hard to get down there and collect samples,
especially at Tiwuatapolo and Tiwanua Mariko'owhai.
Their walls are several hundred feet high and practically vertical.
But in the 90s, researchers managed to scoop up some of the water by stringing cables across
the lakes and flying sample containers down.
They analyzed the elements and chemicals that were in the lake water, which could offer
some clues about where their colors come from.
For starters, they think that the greenish hue of Tiwu Atapolo and Tiwu Nua Muriko'ofai
is most likely due to dissolved iron-containing chemicals because they found iron in water
samples from all three lakes.
Most people think of iron as a grayish metal, but iron atoms can also be part of other chemicals.
In that case, the iron atoms usually take on a positive charge, and when they do, they also change color.
Though scientists didn't determine the charge on the iron they found in the lakes,
lots of chemicals that contain iron ions with a charge of 2 plus are blue or green.
And other volcanic lakes that have a similar color, like the one atop Aso Volcano in Japan,
get their greenish tint from iron, too.
Funny enough, iron might also be responsible for Tiwuatapolo's red phases.
There's some evidence that it tends to turn red in the rainy season.
Rainfall dilutes the lake, which can make it less acidic.
That in turn could lead to more iron ions with a 3-plus charge ending up in the water.
It's like the lake is rusting!
Unlike Tiwuatapolo, Tiwunua-Muriko'ofai's white phases aren't related to iron.
