science

Lake Nojiri

Lake Nojiri is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lake Nojiri rather than just read about it. In short: Lake Nojiri (野尻湖, Nojiri-ko) is in the town of Shinano, Kamiminochi District, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Second to Lake Suwa among lakes in Nagano Prefecture, Nojiri is a resort, the location of the first pumped-storage hydroelectricity in Japan, and the site of a Japanese Paleolithic excavation.

Key takeaways

Lake Nojiri belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lake Nojiri to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lake Nojiri from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lake Nojiri (野尻湖, Nojiri-ko) is in the town of Shinano, Kamiminochi District, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Second to Lake Suwa among lakes in Nagano Prefecture, Nojiri is a resort, the location of the first pumped-storage hydroelectricity in Japan, and the site of a Japanese Paleolithic excavation.

Data Transparency: 5–7 m

Geography The lake is located on a plateau with an altitude of 654m, which is between Mount Madarao in the east and Mount Kurohime in the west. With an area of 4.56 km2, it is the second largest natural lake in Nagano Prefecture after Lake Suwa. It has a depth of 39.1 m (128.2 ft), and its storage volume exceeds that of Lake Suwa. The water of the lake flows out through the Ikejiri River, joins the Seki River, and flows into the Sea of Japan. There are various theories regarding the creation of lake and it might have been dammed by the eruption of Mt. Madarao, or that it was dammed by the Ikejiri River mud flow caused by the eruption of Mt. Kurohime.

Fishing The lake rarely freezes over in the winter. "Dome boats," outfitted with stoves, catch smelt (Hypomesus nipponensis) in Lake Nojiri. The lake was once the home of native Japanese trout but now is home to bass from the United States.

Tategahana Paleolithic Site In 1946, a tusk of Palaeoloxodon naumanni (Naumann's Elephant, named in honor of the geologist Heinrich Edmund Naumann, 1854–1927) was accidentally discovered. In 1962, excavations began at the edge and on the bottom of the lake. The location was a promontory known as Tategahana on the western shore. Discoveries included implements of stone and bone, fossils of Palaeoloxodon naumanni, and of deer. Analyses of diatoms, pollen, paleomagnetism, and volcanic ash place the site, with its fossils of humans and megafauna, in the Paleolithic, the Pleistocene, about 40,000 years ago. Kondo et al. conclude that Tategahana is a "kill-butchering site."

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lake Nojiri

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lake Nojiri claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lake Nojiri before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lake Nojiri ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lake Nojiri

In research: Lake Nojiri appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lake Nojiri in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lake Nojiri is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cenozoic paleontological sites of Asia, Lakes of Nagano Prefecture, Paleoanthropological sites, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lake Nojiri outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lake Nojiri in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lake Nojiri means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lake Nojiri out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lake Nojiri in simple terms?

Why does Lake Nojiri matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lake Nojiri?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lake Nojiri.