Devil Mountain Lakes


Devil Mountain Lakes is a maar in the western part of Alaska. The lake is considered to be the largest maar in the world and is part of the Espenberg volcanic field.

Geography

Devil Mountain Lakes are located about southwest of Kotzebue on the northern part of the Seward Peninsula. The coordinates are.
The crater lake has a diameter of about and is part of the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve. Devil Mountain Lakes are rather unusual consisting of a double crater divided into North Devil Mountain Lake having a diameter of about and South Devil Mountain Lake having a diameter of about.
There are several maars the Killeak Lakes and White Fish Lake close by and the area is sometimes also called Espenberg Maars.

History

The lake was probably shaped during volcanic eruptions about 21000 years ago during the Pleistocene Ice Age as lava flows came through the permafrost creating violent underground explosions.
On December 1, 1978 the nature reserve was established as "Bering Land Bridge National Monument" changing the name on December 2, 1980 to "Bering Land Bridge National Preserve".