A photographic method for detailing the morphology of the floor of a dynamic crater lake: the El Chicho´n case (Chiapas, Mexico)

The active volcano El Chicho´n (Chiapas,
Mexico) hosts a shallow acidic crater lake. During the
period 2001–2007, 26 photographs of the crater lake were
taken from the same spot at the eastern crater rim,*160 m
above the crater floor. The size of the lake was extremely
variable. Using a GPS track from around the lake shore as a
reference, 26 digitized lake outlines were corrected
simultaneously for the perspective angle. The corrected
lake outlines were superposed, leading to a ‘‘morphological
map’’ of a large section of the lake bottom. This map
provides insight into the erosive–sedimentary regime of the
lake floor. The inner section of the lake is more stable due
to the precipitation of sealing clays. This is probably one of
the reasons why the El Chicho´n crater lake has never disappeared
during the past 28 years. The sealing clays at the
lake bottom can be considered the superficial analog of
impermeable clay caps at the depths of hydrothermal systems.
The photographic procedure presented here may be
useful for other limnological and (volcanic) lake studies
aimed at describing lake morphology, and for eventually
deducing the surface area and volume of the lake.

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