Peculiar Geological Spots in Mt. Paektu Area (1)
The volcano of the Hyangdo Peak is in the east of the somma of the Lake Chon on Mt. Paektu. It is 2,712 metres above the sea level.
Its top is covered with 1- to 15-metre-thick pumice.
The part of the Hyangdo Peak by the side of the Lake Chon collapsed at the foundering stage to form a steep slope.
The peaks of the somma of the Lake Chon on Mt. Paektu including the Hyangdo Peak are volcanoes.
The crater of the Lake Chon was formed by foundering of the mountain body, which was filled with water to form the lake.
The Lake Chon belongs to the high crater lake in the world. The surface of its water is 2,190.15 metres above the sea level.
The area of the lake is 9.16 square kilometres, the circumference 14.4 kilometres, the maximum depth 384 metres and the water volume 1,955 million cubic metres.
The lake is mainly fed by atmospheric precipitation and underground water gushing out of its bottom.
It freezes thick before other lakes in Korea. It begins to freeze in mid-October and melts completely in mid-June the next year. The ice is 1.5 metres thick at maximum.
The Paektu hot spring is found along the shore of the Lake Chon. It was formed by hot volcanic gas.
It was discovered on January 21, Juche 73(1984).
The total volume of its minerals is 2.3 grams per litre. The hot spring contains sodium and bicarbonate ions and small amounts of sulphuric and chlorine ions.
The pH is 7.2 and the highest temperature about 73 degrees centigrade.