Sangumburi Crater, Jeju

Sangumburi Crater, Jeju, is a parasitic volcanic crater of Hallasan Mountain. Unlike other craters, it forms a large crater on low, flat ground, giving it an unusual shape. The outer rim measures 2,067m in circumference, the inner rim 756m, and the crater forms a conical cliff 100 to 146m deep, with a floor area of about 8,000 pyeong (a traditional Korean land unit, roughly 26,400 square metres). The crater was formed almost without lava eruption, purely by an explosion that gouged out a deep hollow; the material thrown up by the explosion scattered widely, with only a small amount settling around the rim. Although the crater's diameter and depth exceed those of Baengnokdam, the crater lake atop Hallasan Mountain, no water collects here, as it drains to the sea through a layer of basalt gravel in the crater wall. Such a crater is known as a "maar", a type formed by explosive eruption without significant lava flow; Sangumburi is the only example in Korea, and there are only a few others worldwide, in Japan and Germany. The plants growing inside the crater have long lived in isolation from those on the rest of Hallasan Mountain elsewhere on Jeju Island, making them valuable material for research into plant distribution.

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Where it is

Region

Jeju City, Jeju

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물