Crater Lakes of the Vernadsky Ridge of Paramushir Island (Kuril Islands): Water Balance and Dynamics

The paper considers the water balance of cold and hot crater lakes of the Vernadsky ridge on Paramushir Island. Precipitation was measured at the height of the craters to calculate the incoming part. A necessary condition for the existence of permanent cold crater lakes with precipitation of ~ 4660 mm per hydrological year is a catchment area of more than 60 thousand m2. The evolution of lakes in the craters of the active Ebeko volcano is presented. The volcanic contribution (inflow of water and/or steam of volcanic origin) to thermal lakes in previous periods of time and in the current state of the volcano has been estimated. In the long term, the Middle Crater and the Korbut crater are suitable for the formation of hot lakes. Until the end of the current eruption in the Korbut crater, the formation of a lake in it is impossible. In the post-eruptive period, with an estimated crater diameter of 250 ± 50 m, a volcanic inflow of 8–13 kg/s will be sufficient for the equilibrium existence of a lake with a temperature of 35°C and a mirror area of 25 thousand m2. Volcanic steam has been entering the lake in the Middle Crater since 2017, but the lake remains cold. The volcanic inflow should be 5 ± 2 kg/s in order to achieve a balance equilibrium for a lake with a temperature of 35°C and a mirror area of 25 thousand m2.