The "sea" of the province of South Pohyanmaa (Southern Ostrobothnia) is filled not only with clean water, but also with fish of various types. People from all over the eastern part of Finland come to the Lappajärvi to relax in the nature and admire the views of the lake-sea that goes far beyond the horizon. In this lake there are very few islands compared to other lakes in the country of Suomi, so that hardly having left the shore, fishermen almost immediately find themselves in the open waters of Lappajärvi. A lake created by a meteorite.
The theory of the cosmic origin of the natural reservoir appeared in the scientific community only in the 1950s. Previously, the basin of the lake was considered a crater of an ancient volcano, and detailed studies of rock composition have not been carried out for a long time. When the assumption of extraterrestrial intervention was formulated, clay stones and minerals such as coesite typical for meteorite craters were almost immediately found on the lake bottom, which could be formed only under the influence of high temperatures and irradiation.
Before the collision with the heavenly body, this part of the earth's surface was an ordinary plain on which animals lived, and ancient plants grew. The meteorite that met our planet in the northeastern part of present-day Finland created a giant bowl measuring 10 to 15 kilometers in size. The meteor was only about 1500 meters across, so the impact power was about 80 gigatons. All life for 200-300 miles around the unfortunate land was destroyed and then began to rebuild. As scientists believe, the blow took the lives of all animals that were at the time of the disaster within a radius of 600 kilometers from the epicenter. Now the crater, which has noticeably deformed since its formation, has increased and no longer has an ideal circle shape, and is filled with clean fresh water and fish. To the south of Lappajärvi is another round crater lake - Iso Rajrinka. Now it is already quite certain that both these reservoirs arose as a result of a powerful blow to the earth of cosmic stones, and it was millions of years ago.
The landscape around the lake is typically Finnish. This area is even called the Koli of Southern Ostrobothnia, comparing it with the landscapes of North Karelia. The only mountain Lukehanharju, which rises to an altitude of 106 meters, gives the flat beaches a kind of charm. It is reflected in a lonely state in the waters of the lake like Mount Fuji on the Japanese island of Honshu. The remaining elevations that have only ever appeared in this area have long been eroded. And even Lake Lappajärvi itself was affected by these geological and climatic processes. Its original depth of 150 meters has long been reduced to 38, to be more precise, to 37.3 meters.
People settled in the vicinity of the Lappajärvi back in the Stone Age. The reservoir also provided food to the later settlers - the Vikings, and then to the Swedes and the Savoyers. Now in the vicinity of the lake there are several thousand Finns, who are engaged mainly in fishing, and providing tourist services. Exceptional for the low plain, the depth of the lake (up to 38 meters) and brownish water with a high content of humus creates excellent conditions for pike-perch. This fish is caught here at any time of the year and practically on any bait. In open water, you can catch a large perch and smaller inhabitants of the reservoir - the famous Finnish vendace or smelt. In dense vegetation in the shallow waters burbots can be found, which gain a weight here up to 5 kilograms and above.
For lovers of a quieter holiday than catching trout by fishing, the Lappajärvi will also offer excellent conditions. On the shore of the lake there are comfortable hotels, there is even a museum of the lake, in which fragments of rocks are presented as proof that once in this place of the Finnish land a space meteor was found.
For fishermen and hikers, an entrance is opened to the largest of the islands of the lake, the Kerniansaari. It is located in the northern part of the reservoir and looks like a leaf hanging on a branch. In the 1970s it was connected to the coast as a peninsula, but now a narrow strip of land at the junction is hidden under water. Above the fairway a bridge was built, along which all who wish get to the Kerniansaari can travel.