Mount Batur

Why Mount Batur is special ?

The Gunung Batur area is like a giant bowl, with its bottom half covered by water and a set of volcanic cones jutting out of the middle. Sound a bit spectacular? It is. On clear days – vital to appreciating the spectacle – the turquoise waters wrap around the newer volcanoes, which have old lava flows oozing down their sides.

In 2012 Unesco honoured the area by adding it to a list of more than 90 geologic wonders worldwide and naming it the Batur Caldera Geopark (www.globalgeopark.org). So far this has meant little on the ground, although some interesting signs detailing the unique geology of the area have started to appear along roads in the region.

Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com

What to explore at Mount Batur?

The southeast wall of the inner caldera lies beneath Lake Batur; Batur cone has been constructed within the inner caldera to a height above the outer caldera rim. The Batur stratovolcano has produced vents over much of the inner caldera, but a NE-SW fissure system has localized the Batur I, II, and III craters along the summit ridge. Historical eruptions have been characterized by mild-to-moderate explosive activity sometimes accompanied by lava emission. Basaltic lava flows from both summit and flank vents have reached the caldera floor and the shores of Lake Batur in historical time. The caldera contains an active, 700-metre-tall stratovolcano rising above the surface of Lake Batur. The first historically documented eruption of Batur was in 1804, and it has been frequently active since then. The substantial lava field from the 1968 eruption is visible today when viewed from Kintamani, a town that stradles the southwest ridge of the greater caldera.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org