A lake in southern Chile has mysteriously disappeared, prompting speculation the ground has simply opened up and swallowed it whole.
The lake was situated in the Magallanes region in Patagonia and was fed by water mostly from melting glaciers.
It had a surface area of between 4 and 5 hectares, about the size of 10 soccer pitches.
"In March we patrolled the area and everything was normal," Juan Jose Romero, regional director of Chile's National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) said. "We went again in May and to our surprise we found the lake had completely disappeared. The only things left were chunks of ice on the dry lake-bed and an enormous fissure."
CONAF is investigating the disappearance.
One theory is that the area was hit by an earth tremor that opened a crack in the ground which acted like a drain.
Southern Chile has been shaken by thousands of minor earth tremors this year.
Did you know that the west coast of Scotland gets hit by dozens of small earthquakes every year. We're all waiting to see what happens when Loch Ness empties.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling that lake just deposited itself on the UK.
ReplyDeleteWe're off to Loch Ness in August, I hope it empties while we're there :)