Abstract Lake Enspel was a deep lake which developed in
a small trachytic caldera or Bims volcano. In normal times,
the lake was meromictic and eutrophic and had no outlet.
Background sedimentation together with periodical phytoplankton
blooms led to laminated, undisturbed sediments
that alternated with coarse mass flows and/or turbidites.
During turnovers caused by these episodical sediment
inputs, the lake became oligotroph. Mesophytic forest
extended right down to the lake edge. Approximately,
230,000 years after the onset of lake sedimentation, a
basaltic lava flow, caused by a nearby eruption, filled the
lake up in a single event.