Mount Zaō

The Zaō Mountains (蔵王連峰, Zaō Renpō), commonly called Mount Zaō, are a complex cluster of stratovolcanoes on the border between Yamagata Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. The central volcano of the group includes several lava domes and a tuff cone, Goshiki-dake, which contains a crater lake named "Okama". Also known as the "Five Color Pond" (五色沼, goshiki numa) because it changes color depending on the weather, it lies in a crater formed by a volcanic eruption in the 1720s. The lake is 360 metres (1,200 ft) in diameter and 60 m (200 ft) deep, and is one of the main tourist attractions in the area.

Zaō Mountains
蔵王連峰
The Zaō Mountains as seen from the Shiroishi River, an Abukuma River tributary, at the cherry blossom season
Highest point
Elevation	1,841 m (6,040 ft)[1][2]
Listing	Mountains of Japan Volcanoes of Japan
Coordinates	38°08′38″N 140°26′24″E[1]
Geography
Zaō Mountains Location on Honshu Show map of Tohoku, Japan Zaō Mountains Zaō Mountains (Japan) Show map of Japan
Country	Japan
Island	Honshu
Prefectures	Yamagata Miyagi
Geology
Mountain type	Complex volcano
Last eruption	May 1940[1]

One striking feature of Zaō's famous ski resorts are the "frost-covered trees" (樹氷, juhyō) that appear in mid-winter. Strong wind over the nearby lake fling water droplets which freeze against the trees and their branches, until near-horizontal icicles begin to form. Falling snow settles on the ice formations, and the end result is a grotesque figure of a tree. The effect of a full forest of such trees gives visitors a ghostly impression. Zaō is one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains.

Rotaria rotatoria^[3] and Pinnularia spp.^[4] are found in the acidic Okama Lake.^[5]

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  Relief Map
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  Okama Crater
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  Okama Crater
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  Snow monsters
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  View from Mount Zao in winter
• 
  A 3D rendering

See also

• Snow country (Japan)
• Zaō Ropeway

References

1. "Zaozan [Zaosan]". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
2. "Topographic map of Zao". opentopomap.org. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
3. Deneke, Rainer (2000). "Review of rotifers and crustaceans in highly acidic environments of pH values ≤ 3". Hydrobiologia. 433 (1–3): 167–172. doi:10.1023/a:1004047510602. S2CID 25056334.
4. Negoro, K (1940). "A Pinnularia from Okama, an acidotrophic crater lake of volcano Zao". Jpn. J. Limnol. 9 (4): 176–179. doi:10.3739/rikusui.9.176.
5. Anzai, T (1938). "Limnological observation of Okama, a crater lake of Volcano Zaō". Jpn. J. Limnol. 8 (3–4): 264–272. doi:10.3739/rikusui.8.3-4_264.

External links

• "English Travel information on Mt. Zao". 21 April 2022.(in English)
• Zaozan - Japan Meteorological Agency (in Japanese)
• "Zaozan: National catalogue of the active volcanoes in Japan" (PDF). - Japan Meteorological Agency
• "Zao" (in Japanese). Geological Survey of Japan.