Lake disappears suddenly in
Chile
Scientists in Chile are investigating the sudden disappearance of a
glacial lake in the south of the country.
The lake, in the Magallanes region of
southern Chile, was fed by a glacier (left) but had radically
changed by the time researchers visited it in
May.
When park rangers patrolled the area in the Magallanes region in
March, the two-hectare (five-acre) lake was its normal size,
officials say.
But last month they found a huge dry crater and several stranded
chunks of ice that used to float on the water.
One theory is that an earthquake opened up a fissure in the ground,
allowing the lake's water to drain through.
"In March we patrolled the area and everything was normal," Juan
Jose Romero from Chile's National Forestry Corporation, Conaf,
said.
"We went again in May and to our surprise we found that the lake
had completely disappeared. All that was left were chunks of ice
and an enormous fissure."
Geologists and other experts are being sent to the area, which is
some 2,000km (1,250 miles) south of the capital, Santiago, to
investigate.
The region is shaken by frequent earth tremors and one idea is that
a strong quake which hit the neighbouring region of Aysen in April
opened up the fissure in the bottom of the lake.
A glacier specialist, Andres Rivera, told Chilean newspaper La
Tercera that the lake's disappearance seemed to be part of the
continual reforming of the landscape.
The Magallanes area "has seen interesting changes in the last few
decades," he said, noting that the lake itself had not been there
30 years ago.
(source: BBC)
