Lake Pukaki is a large (178.7 km²) alpine lake (532 m. above sea level), created when the terminal moraines of receding glaciers blocked its respective valley, forming this huge moraine-dammed lake. The water from the melting glacier gives to the lake its distinctive cyan color, created by glacial flour, the extremely finely ground rock particles from the glaciers. You can see the difference in the water’s color even from the satellite, comparing Pukaki’s light cyan color with the deep blue water of the lake Tekapo nearby. The glacier that feeds Pukaki lake descends from Aoraki/Mount Cook the highest (3,754 m.) mountain of New Zealand.