Lupine flowers bloom above beautiful Lake Quilotoa, Ecuador, South America. Quilotoa, a tourist site of growing popularity, is a scenic water-filled caldera that is the westernmost volcano in the Ecuadorian Andes. The 3 kilometers (2 mile) wide caldera (diameter about 9km) was formed by the collapse of this dacite volcano following a catastrophic VEI-6 eruption about 800 years ago, which produced pyroclastic flows and lahars that reached the Pacific Ocean, and spread an airborne deposit of volcanic ash throughout the northern Andes. The caldera has since accumulated a 250 meter (820 foot) deep crater lake, which has a greenish color from dissolved minerals. Fumaroles are found on the lake floor and hot springs occur on the eastern flank of the volcano. The route to the "summit" (the small town of Quilotoa) is generally traveled by hired truck or bus from the town of Zumbahua 17 km to the South. Lupinus is a genus in the pea family (also called the legume, bean, or pulse family, Latin name Fabaceae or Leguminosae). Panorama stitched from 9 overlapping images.
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