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Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms pp 419–424Cite as

Crater Lake

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  • First Online:

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Definition

A circular depression of impact or volcanic origin, filled or covered by water or other non-magmatic liquid.

Synonyms

Intracrater lake

Subtypes/Formation

Crater lakes may be closed drainage (endorheic) crater basins or open basins. They may be filled with liquids presently or in the past (paleolakes) as inferred from crater morphology or sedimentary deposits. The shape of the lake may be (sub)circular, annular, or more complex, depending on being the crater simple or complex and on the stage of erosion.

Lake Classification Based on Water Source

  1. (1)

    Meteoric source (rain, snow): suggested for Titan (Aharonson et al. 2009) and Mars, where it may have formed transient lakes (Kite et al. 2011).

  2. (2)

    Source at the surface (streams, springs): in the case of Mars, lakes formed by breaching of the crater wall by inlet channels – outflow channels or valley networks– with accompanying sedimentation in the crater basin. If the inflow volume exceeds the crater’s capacity, water...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physikalisches Institut, Bern Universität, Sidlerstrasse 5, 3012, Bern, Switzerland

    Mohamed Ramy El Maarry

  2. Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany

    Gino Erkeling

  3. Konkoly Thege Miklos Astronomical Institute, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Ákos Kereszturi

  4. NASA Ames Research Center/NPP, Moffett Field, CA, 94035, USA

    Henrik Hargitai

Authors
  1. Mohamed Ramy El Maarry
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  2. Gino Erkeling
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  3. Ákos Kereszturi
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  4. Henrik Hargitai
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohamed Ramy El Maarry .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NASA Ames Research Center/NPP, Moffett Field, CA, USA

    Henrik Hargitai

  2. Konkoly Thege Miklos Astronomical Institute, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Ákos Kereszturi

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El Maarry, M.R., Erkeling, G., Kereszturi, Á., Hargitai, H. (2015). Crater Lake. In: Hargitai, H., Kereszturi, Á. (eds) Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3134-3_76

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