Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-07-30
Leaking Lake Puzzles
Biologists in Virgins
Blue Ridge Body Of Woter5
Loses in Size Periodically
By Thomos R. Henry

MOUNTAIN LAKE, Vain the hfgh
Blue Ridge Mountains Of Southwest
Virginia is "leaking lake."
Every now and then in the course OF
q century this small body Of sky-blus
water, the only mountain lake IN tho
East below the frontier line Of glaciers
Of the last ice age. either disappears er
is reduced in size by about half.
The lake is close to the University OF
Virginia biological experiment station.
and the causes Of its vagaries have been
investigated, with inconclusive results.
by biologists stationed there each sum-
mer. Much Of the material for their
studies comes from its waters.
Much legend naturally is associated
with 1t among the mountain people.
1t is now generally agreed, however.
that the cause OF its occasional disap-
pearance is hole. or holes, in Its bot
tom which usually are plugged up but
which open every now and then, due to
causes which cannot be determined. It
is known that the lake was dry In 1880.
It began to I'LL up In 1904 but went al
most dry again in 1864 circumstance
which stirred some superstitious specu-
lation in the neighborhood, since it fol-
lowed so directly the disaster Of the
Civil War on the countryside.
Quake Reduces Lake.
In 1900 there was a slight earth
quake in the vicinity. This apparently
unplugged one of the holes, and the
lake was reduced to about half its
present size. Very soon, however, 1t
cfo kaH iyan
more than so acres and is more than
100 feet deep in places.
The generally accepted theory is that
here was originally depression in the
mountains into which poured stream
from spring, or perhaps several
streams from several springs. Ordi-
narily this water seeped through
chasm in the limestone rock and be-
came an underground stream. such as
honeycomb much Of the mountain area
and are responsible in part for the
numerous caverns.
Apparently this depression was a
resort of big game. 1T may very well
have been sailed by Indian hunters to
attract the mountain bison, then quite
abundant in the area but which long
since have disappeared. The trampling
by the hoofs of these bison and other
large animals presumably resulted in
closing up the hole. This caused the
lake. A theory that the hole was closed
by the hoofs Of cattle owned by early
settlers, who also probably used the
depression as salt hole, now is gen.
orally discarded since there were very
few cattle in the region when the lake
is known to have been even larger than
1t is today. . t
Rocks Wont Hold Water.
AS the mountain people say, the
limestone rocks of the southern Appa-
lachians will not hold water unless
they are 'puddled." This probably
explains the absence of large fresh
water lakes south of Northern Penn
sylvania.
The lake long was looked upon as
potential biological curiosity because
Of its isolation. and expeditions from
Cornell, Columbia. Harvard and the
University of Virginia hoped to find in
It's water unique species OF fish, am
phibians and insects. Nothing Of the
0 sort ever was found All the animal
7 life was such as must have migrated
there from nearby mountain streams.
The explanation, say University Of
Virginia biologists, now seems obvious.
Species do not have time to differen-
tiate between successive openings Of
the leak hole. Every time the lake dis
appears they are exterminated and the
waters must be populated anew.