Mount Batur Bali

The Batur caldera therefore actually consists of a gigantic, double elliptic crater with a total diameter of 10 x 13 km.
Contrary to for example the volcanoes of Hawaii, where the magma flows freely and accumulate gradually as spreading lava sheets, Indonesian magmas move far less readily. On reaching the surface, these slow-moving magmas have enough time to cool and will periodically block release of the pent up forces beneath. As the magma gets trapped this way, great reservoirs of liquid magma accumulate within the volcano, building up pressure until the earth can no longer contain it. Without warning the top of the volcano gives way and the contained magma bursts forth with unimaginable violence.

With the passage of time the volcano, its core now emptied, slowly collapses back within itself to form a giant sunken crater or caldera. Eventually, as fresh magma reaches the surface, new volcanic vents may appear within the caldera, slowly occluding it as discharged ash and lava gradually continue to accumulate.

Batur Lake

Lake Batur is the largest lake of Bali located at Kinatamani. It is crescent shaped and it can be found in the smaller, secundary caldera of the Batur volcano, right at the foot of Mount Abang. Due to its height not only the temperature of the area is always cool but also the water of the lake. To the local people who live in the small villages around lake Batur, the lake is a sacred site. The communities around the lake live mainly on agriculture and fishing and, in a lesser extent, on tourism.