Taal volcano: The Island in a Lake on an Island in a Lake on an Island

20 Mar 2022

Lake Taal, on the island of Luzon, in the Philippines archipelago's northernmost reaches, is unique. It's now one of just two lakes in the world with a third-order island within it, with the lake itself being a part of the order. In other words, Lake Taal, which is located on the island of Luzon, has a volcano (Volcano Island), a lake (Crater Lake), and its own little island (Vulcan Point).

Lake Taal, on the island of Luzon, in the Philippines archipelago’s northernmost reaches, is unique. It’s now one of just two lakes in the world with a third-order island within it, with the lake itself being a part of the order. In other words, Lake Taal, which is located on the island of Luzon, has a volcano (Volcano Island), a lake (Crater Lake), and its own little island (Vulcan Point).

Volcano Island, where ancient eruptions of Taal Volcano occurred, is responsible for the lake’s sulfuric content. Crater Lake was formed when the crater at the top of Volcano Island was filled with water. On Crater Lake, Vulcan Point is a little hump.

Taal Lake with Volcano Island, which contains Crater Lake, as seen from the International Space Station. Vulcan Point, an island, is hardly visible. Photo credit: NASA Johnson/Flickr

As unusual as this may sound, Vulcan Point isn’t the only island within a lake in an island within a lake in an island. In Canada, there is another, a much larger four-acre nameless island that sits within a small, unnamed lake that is encircled by a slightly larger island. That island, in turn, is surrounded by a series of long finger lakes roughly 90 kilometers inland from Victoria Island’s southern coast. Set your coordinates to 69.793° N, 108.241° W if you want to see it on Google Maps. Alternatively, you can zoom through the succession of lakes and islands by clicking here.

Ken Jennings, a name you may recognize, discovered the unidentified island in 2012 after numerous hours of poring over Google Earth imagery. In the history of the game show Jeopardy!, he holds the record for the longest winning run. , in which he won 74 consecutive games and earned $2.5 million.

There are likely many more third-order islands yet to be discovered in Canada, a country with over 3 million lakes, many of which contain islands. In reality, Canada has a number of records for islands and recursive islands within lakes. It is home to the world’s largest island lake (Nettilling Lake on Baffin Island), the world’s largest lake (Lake Manitou on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron), and the world’s largest island in a lake on an island in a lake (Lake Manitou on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron) (Treasure Island in Mindemoya Lake on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron.)