Laguna Miscanti
Laguna Miscanti
Location of Miscanti Lake in Chile.
Location of Miscanti Lake in Chile.
Laguna Miscanti
LocationAntofagasta Region
Coordinates23°43′30″S 67°45′54″W / 23.725°S 67.765°W / -23.725; -67.765
Basin countriesChile
Surface area13.5 km2 (5.2 sq mi)
Surface elevation4,140 m (13,580 ft)[1]

Laguna Miscanti is a brackish water lake located in the altiplano of the Antofagasta Region in northern Chile. Cerro Miñiques volcano and Cerro Miscanti tower over this lake. This 13.5 square kilometres (5.2 sq mi) large heart-shaped lake has a deep blue colour and developed in a basin formed by a fault. South of Miscanti lies Laguna Miñiques, another lake which is separated from Miscanti by a lava flow that was emplaced there during the Pleistocene.

The lake is part of one of the seven sectors of Los Flamencos National Reserve. A number of birds and mammals live at the lake, which is a major tourist destination.

Geography

Laguna Miscanti lies in the Central Andes[2] of Chile,[3] east-southeast of the Salar de Atacama. Administratively, it is part of the Antofagasta Region.[4] The closest town is Socaire, 20 kilometres (12 mi) away from the lake.[5] A road departing from the Paso Sico international road goes to Miscanti,[6] which is accessible by an unpaved road and numerous footpaths.[7] In 2002, there were 5,000 tourists at Miscanti and the nearby lake Miñiques,[8] and in 2015, one in three tourists who went to the Los Flamencos National Reserve visited Miscanti and Laguna Miñiques.[9] An archeological site called "Miscanti-1" is found on the southeastern lake shore.[10]

Hydrography and geology

Laguna Miscanti is a maximally 10 metres (33 ft) deep lake with[11] clear[12] brackish water which covers a surface area of 13.5 square kilometres (5.2 sq mi);[11] the lake has the shape of an arrowhead with a peninsula jutting from the northern shore.[3] A lava flow separates the otherwise flat lake floor into two basins.[13] In the Atacama Altiplano, Laguna Miscanti is among the biggest waterbodies.[14] The mountains Cerro Miscanti (5,622 metres (18,445 ft)) and Cerro Miñiques (5,910 metres (19,390 ft)) lie northeast and south of the lake, respectively.[15]

1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) south of[16] the lake is another waterbody, Laguna Miñiques.[17] In the past, the two lakes were connected, producing a large waterbody which has left beach terraces in the landscape[11] and whose water levels were about 20 metres (66 ft) higher than today.[18] The separation of the lakes probably occurred during the Pleistocene, when a lava flow erupted from Cerro Miñiques split the lake basin in two.[19][20] A number of creeks enter into Laguna Miscanti from the north, east and south (Quebrada de Chaquisoqui[1]), and there are two springs on its northern shores.[3]

Miscanti and Miñiques occupy fault-bound basins;[16][11][21] the Quebrada Nacimiento fault[18] is also known as the Miscanti Fault and is part of a detachment fault system east of the Salar de Atacama,[22] which separates the Western Cordillera from the Cordillera Domeyko.[21][12] This fault extends from the Purico complex,[23] Llano de Chajnantor to Miñiques and has formed a ridge, which has dammed lava flows from Cerro Miscanti and Cerro Miñiques.[20] The basins developed during the Pliocene and Pleistocene;[18] Laguna Lejia also developed along this fault[21] and the fault segment there is also known as Miscanti-Callejon de Varela fault.[24] Volcanoes[21] including Lascar[25] and the Cerros Saltar and Corona north and south of Lascar formed on the fault.[26]

Laguna Miscanti

Hydrology

The catchment of the lake consists mainly of volcanic and sedimentary rocks ranging from Miocene to Holocene age and covers a surface area of 320 square kilometres (120 sq mi),[11] with Quaternary volcanoes that reach elevations of 5,000–6,000 metres (16,000–20,000 ft).[5] The Cordon de Puntas Negras is the principal source of water.[18] Water reaches Laguna Miscanti principally as groundwater,[12] which is directed there by the fault; this may explain why Laguna Miscanti is a permanent lake rather than a playa.[19]

The lake has no surface outflow. Presently, water seeps to Miñiques through a lava flow[11] along the path of the Quebrada Nacimiento fault;[18] during former lake highstands a combined lake overflowed into the Pampa Varela basin[11] south-southwest of Miñiques.[15] Most water, however, leaves Laguna Miscanti through evaporation.[21] The town of Peine draws its water supply from the Miscanti basin.[27]

Climate

Presently, the regional climate is arid,[17] with average precipitation amounting to 200–250 mm/a (7.9–9.8 in/year), and cold, with average annual temperatures of 2 °C (36 °F). During winter, ice develops on the lake surface.[11] The lake area is usually a little warmer than the surrounding region.[28] The region lies between areas dominated by summer precipitation in the northeast and areas dominated by winter precipitation in the southwest.[17]

In the late Pleistocene and early Holocene the climate was much wetter and lakes expanded,[17] especially during the first stage[29] of the Central Andean Pluvial Event.[30] The late Pleistocene—early Holocene wet period was particularly noticeable in the Altiplano, where two separate phases of the Lake Tauca occurred.[31] The last glacial maximum was drier[32] and colder, leading to a total disappearance of vegetation[33] and a drying of the lake between 22,000 and 14,000 years ago.[34] During the middle Holocene dry period,[17] the lake may have dried up completely, forming a bog.[12] After about 4,000 years ago, moisture availability increased again,[35] while a moist epoch between 6,500 and 5,000 years ago was temporary.[36] Climate variability influenced human settlement in the region during the Holocene, which took place mainly during wetter periods[37] and became concentrated in several environmentally favourable spaces during dry periods.[16]

Biology

Widgeonweed grows at the lakeshores,[38] while the algae charophytes[39] and Chara and the water plant Myriophyllum grow in the lake. During its highstands, algal bioherms[38] and stromatolithes developed in the water.[18] Diatoms and ostracodes have been identified in the lake sediments,[40] and amphipods in the lake waters.[41]

There are meadows consisting of Fabiana, Festuca and Stipa chrysophylla around the lake, with sparser vegetation found on the upland,[12] consisting of Baccharis species also known as "tolar" and ichu.[42] Fauna that inhabits the area includes birds like flamingos,[43] Fulica ardesiaca (Andean coot), Fulica cornuta (Horned coot), Larus serranus (Andean gull), Lophonetta speculiarioides (Crested duck) and Podiceps occipitalis (silvery grebe),[44] and mammals like Ctenomys opimus (Highland tuco-tuco), Lagidium viscacia (Southern viscacha), Phyllotis darwini (Darwin's leaf-eared mouse), Pseudalopex culpaeus (culpeo) and Vicugna vicugna (vicuña);[43] the two lakes are important breeding sites for the horned coot.[45] Laguna Miscanti and Laguna Miñiques are part of the third sector of the Los Flamencos National Reserve,[46] and are jointly administered by the community of Socaire and by the National Forest Corporation.[47]

References

  1. 1 2 Niemeyer 1980, p. 202.
  2. ↑ Grosjean 2001, p. 35.
  3. 1 2 3 Valero-Garcés et al. 1996, p. 3.
  4. ↑ "Mapa Minutas Región de Antofagasta" (PDF). ODEPA (in Spanish). Gobierno de Chile. August 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  5. 1 2 Niemeyer 1980, p. 201.
  6. ↑ Servicio Nacional de Turismo (Chile) (23 March 2018). Ruta del Desierto (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish). p. 14. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  7. ↑ Corporación Nacional Forestal 2008, p. 88.
  8. ↑ Contreras, Juan Pablo (2002). Norte de Chile: conservación de humedales altoandinos para un desarrollo productivo sustentable. Capítulo IV (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish). p. 128. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  9. ↑ Molina, Raúl (31 December 2019). "Nostalgias, conversiones y desbordes en San Pedro de Atacama". Antropologías del Sur (in European Spanish). 6 (12): 273. doi:10.25074/rantros.v6i12.1548. ISSN 0719-5532. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  10. ↑ Núñez et al. 2018, p. 110.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Grosjean 2001, p. 37.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Núñez et al. 2018, p. 112.
  13. ↑ Valero-Garcés et al. 1996, p. 6.
  14. ↑ Valero-Garcés et al. 1996, p. 2.
  15. 1 2 Grosjean 2001, p. 38.
  16. 1 2 3 Núñez et al. 2018, p. 111.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 Grosjean 2001, p. 36.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Valero-Garcés et al. 1996, p. 4.
  19. 1 2 Valero-Garcés et al. 1999, p. 123.
  20. 1 2 González et al. 2009, p. 9.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 Valero-Garcés et al. 1999, p. 105.
  22. ↑ Aron, Felipe; González, Gabriel; Veloso, Eugenio; Cembrano, José (2008). "Architecture and style of compressive Neogene deformation in the eastern-southeastern border of the Salar de Atacama Basin (22°30'-24°15'S): A structural setting for the active volcanic arc of the Central Andes". 7th International Symposium on Andean Geodynamics: 52. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  23. ↑ Davidson, Jon P.; de Silva, Shanaka L.; Holden, Peter; Halliday, Alex N. (10 October 1990). "Small-scale disequilibrium in a magmatic inclusion and its more silicic host". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 95 (B11): 17662. Bibcode:1990JGR....9517661D. doi:10.1029/JB095iB11p17661. ISSN 2156-2202.
  24. ↑ Gardeweg, Sparks & Matthews 1998, p. 100.
  25. ↑ Zellmer, Georg F.; Freymuth, Heye; Cembrano, José M.; Clavero, Jorge E.; Veloso, Eugenio A. E.; Sielfeld, Gerd G. (1 January 2014). "Altered mineral uptake into fresh arc magmas: insights from U–Th isotopes of samples from Andean volcanoes under differential crustal stress regimes". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 385 (1): 189. Bibcode:2014GSLSP.385..185Z. doi:10.1144/SP385.9. ISSN 0305-8719. S2CID 128528082. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  26. ↑ Gardeweg, Sparks & Matthews 1998, p. 92.
  27. ↑ Calderón, Matías; Benavides, Catalina; Carmona, Javier; Gálvez, Damián; Malebrán, Natalia; Rodríguez, Manuela; Sinclaire, Denise; Urzúa, José (2016). "Gran Minería y Localidades Agrícolas en el Norte de Chile: Comparación Exploratoria de Tres Casos". Chungará (Arica). 48 (2): 295–305. doi:10.4067/S0717-73562016005000001. ISSN 0717-7356.
  28. ↑ Romero, Hugo; Kampf, Stephanie (2003). "Impacts of Climate Fluctuations and Climate Changes on the Sustainable Development of the Arid Norte Grande in Chile". Climate and Water. Advances in Global Change Research. Vol. 16. Springer, Dordrecht. p. 94. doi:10.1007/978-94-015-1250-3_5. ISBN 978-90-481-6386-1.
  29. ↑ Pfeiffer, Marco; Latorre, Claudio; Santoro, Calogero M.; Gayo, Eugenia M.; Rojas, Rodrigo; Carrevedo, María Laura; McRostie, Virginia B.; Finstad, Kari M.; Heimsath, Arjun; Jungers, Matthew C.; De Pol-Holz, Ricardo; Amundson, Ronald (1 October 2018). "Chronology, stratigraphy and hydrological modelling of extensive wetlands and paleolakes in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert during the late quaternary". Quaternary Science Reviews. 197: 237. Bibcode:2018QSRv..197..224P. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.08.001. ISSN 0277-3791. OSTI 1830486. S2CID 134817135.
  30. ↑ Urrutia, Javier; Herrera, Christian; Custodio, Emilio; Jódar, Jorge; Medina, Agustín (20 December 2019). "Groundwater recharge and hydrodynamics of complex volcanic aquifers with a shallow saline lake: Laguna Tuyajto, Andean Cordillera of northern Chile". Science of the Total Environment. 697: 3. Bibcode:2019ScTEn.697m4116U. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134116. ISSN 0048-9697. PMID 32380610. S2CID 202876663.
  31. ↑ Núñez et al. 2018, p. 109.
  32. ↑ Grosjean 2001, p. 49.
  33. ↑ Orellana et al. 2023, p. 7.
  34. ↑ Orellana et al. 2023, p. 8.
  35. ↑ Jara, Ignacio A.; Maldonado, Antonio; Eugenia de Porras, María (15 October 2020). "Late Holocene dynamics of the south American summer monsoon: New insights from the Andes of northern Chile (21°S)". Quaternary Science Reviews. 246: 10. Bibcode:2020QSRv..24606533J. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106533. ISSN 0277-3791. S2CID 221876416.
  36. ↑ Orellana et al. 2023, p. 19.
  37. ↑ Valero-Garcés et al. 1996, p. 19.
  38. 1 2 Grosjean 2001, p. 39.
  39. ↑ Valero-Garcés et al. 1999, p. 117.
  40. ↑ Valero-Garcés et al. 1996, p. 10.
  41. ↑ Ríos-Escalante, Patricio De los; Morrone, Juan J.; Rivera, Reinaldo (1 January 2013). "A checklist of Hyalella (Amphipoda) from Chile". Crustaceana. 86 (12): 1429. doi:10.1163/15685403-00003256. ISSN 1568-5403.
  42. ↑ Niemeyer 1980, p. 203.
  43. 1 2 Corporación Nacional Forestal 2008, p. 53.
  44. ↑ Corporación Nacional Forestal 2008, p. 52.
  45. ↑ Biodiversidad de Chile : patrimonio y desafíos (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish). CONAMA. 2008. p. 269. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  46. ↑ Aravena, Fernando; Amado, Nelson (May 2014). "Abundancia y reproducción de la tagua cornuda (Fulica cornuta) en la Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos, Región de Antofagasta" (PDF). Sistema de Información de Biodiversidad (in Spanish). Corporación Nacional Forestal. p. 29. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  47. ↑ "SOCAIRE RESISTE Y SE LEVANTA ANTE EL VIOLENTO EMBATE DE INTENSAS Y CONSTANTES LLUVIAS" (Press release) (in Spanish). Ministry of Agriculture. 30 March 2015. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.

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