The Pitch Lake is the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world, located at La Brea in southwest Trinidad, within the Siparia Regional Corporation. The lake covers about 40 ha and is reported to be 75 m deep.
Pitch Lake is a tourist attraction that attracts about 20,000 visitors annually. It is also mined for asphalt by Lake Asphalt of Trinidad and Tobago.
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Pitch Lake has fascinated explorers and scientists, as well as attracting tourists, since its discovery by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1595. Raleigh himself found immediate use for the asphalt to caulk his ship. Exported asphalt from Pitch Lake was also used to pave the streets of some regions of New York City. Since its re-discovery, there have been numerous research investigations into the use and chemical composition of this material. Above all, there have been countless theories, postulations, and conclusions as to the size, source, and origin of the asphalt.
Evidence of an active microbiological ecosystem have been reported. Archaeal and bacterial community co-exists with novel species being discovered from Pitch Lake samples[1]. Besides this, novel fungal life forms are described which can grow on the available asphaltenes as a sole carbon and energy source[2].
The origin of Pitch Lake is related to deep faults in connection with subduction under the Caribbean Plate related to Barbados Arc. The lake has not been studied extensively, but it is believed that the lake is at the intersection of two faults, which allows oil from a deep deposit to be forced up.[3] The lighter elements in the oil evaporated, leaving behind the heavier asphalt. Bacterial action on the asphalt at low pressures creates petroleum in asphalt. The researchers indicated that extremophiles inhabited the asphalt lake in populations ranging between 106 to 107 cells/gram. [1][4] Pitch Lake is one of several natural asphalt lakes in the world. The La Brea Tar Pits (Los Angeles), McKittrick Tar Pits (McKittrick) and Carpinteria Tar Pits (Carpinteria) are all in the US state of California. Lake Guanoco is in the Republic of Venezuela.