Chungará Lake

This article is about the lake in the Arica and Parinacota Region, Chile. For other uses, see Chunkara.
Lake Chungará

Location Arica y Parinacota Region, Chile
Coordinates 18°15′S 69°09′W / 18.250°S 69.150°W / -18.250; -69.150Coordinates: 18°15′S 69°09′W / 18.250°S 69.150°W / -18.250; -69.150
Primary inflows Chungará, Sopocalane
Basin countries Chile
Surface area 21.5 square kilometres (8.3 sq mi)
Max. depth 33 metres (108 ft)
Surface elevation 4,517 metres (14,820 ft)

Chungará (hispanicized spelling of Aymara chunkara "pointed mountain")[1] is a lake situated in the extreme north of Chile, in the Altiplano of Arica y Parinacota Region in the Lauca National Park. It is the 29th highest lake in the world (and the 10th highest in South America).[2] It is near the volcanos Parinacota (20,827 ft or 6,348 m) and Pomerape (20,413 ft or 6,222 m).[3] It was formed 8000 years ago, when a major collapse of the edifice of Parinacota produced an avalanche of 6 km³ of debris which blocked drainage pattern, thus creating the lake.

The pencil catfish Trichomycterus chungarensis and the pupfish Orestias chungarensis are endemic to the lake basin.

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake Chungará.
  1. ↑ "Diccionario Bilingüe Castellano-Aymara 2002". Félix Laime Pairumani. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑


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