Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In mid-August, I hiked to Lake Haiyaha in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park. The unusual turquoise coloration of the lake is a direct result of the 2022 Chaos Canyon landslide. The debris slide transported fine "rock flour" into the lake. These particles absorb the shortest wavelengths of light, the purples and indigos. Meanwhile, the water absorbs the longer wavelength reds, oranges, and yellows. That leaves mainly blues and greens to get scattered back to our eyes. This is what makes Lake Haiyaha appear a milky sea-green color.
Author: Aman Kumar
Institution: University of Colorado Boulder
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4409914137