Lake Haiyaha's turquoise waters

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.

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Publication Details

Journal
University of Colorado Honors Journal
Published
2025-04-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.33011/cuhj20253649
Primary Topic
Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology and Behavior
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Lake Haiyaha's turquoise waters

Aman Kumar
University of Colorado Honors Journal
Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology and Behavior
article

Lake Haiyaha's turquoise waters

Aman Kumar
article en

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.

University of Colorado Honors Journal
University of Colorado Boulder (US), University of Colorado System (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 91%
Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology and Behavior
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