Lake Poopo is a miracle of our planet. It is located high in the mountains of South America, on the territory of modern Bolivia. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it is s alty, and the flora and fauna of this reservoir are filled with amazing inhabitants. How did such an amazing lake form high in the Andes? What does it look like now?
Education Poopo
When the last ice age ended and the age-old ice began to melt, a huge glacial lake Ballywyan was formed in the mountainous part of South America. Gradually, it dried up and about 11 thousand years ago it broke up into several reservoirs. The largest of them, which still exists today, is the famous Titicaca, which attracts tourists from all over the world. Lake Poopo was the second largest.
After the fall of the sea level, the reservoir was left without a natural connection with the oceans. It became drainless, and its filling depended only on the level of precipitation. The Desaguadero, the only river that connects the waters of the Poopo to the outside world, flows out of the huge Titicaca and flows into the Poopo.
Where is the lake?
Poopocan be seen on the map of South America. Geographical coordinates of this place: 18°46'55″ S. latitude, 67°01'29″ W e. Height above sea level - 3700 meters. Like many other lakes in South America, Poopo is a special geological formation created by nature on the site of the former seabed. The rapid emergence of the Andean Range raised Poopo to an unattainable height - so the lake was isolated from the outside world.
Hydrology
The composition of the water in the reservoir is unique - an abnormally high s alt content makes it unsuitable for drinking or household use. The concentration of saline solution becomes prohibitive during a period of drought and high air temperature. But in the northern part of the reservoir there is a small area with fresh water - this is the place where the Desaguadero River flows into. Otherwise, s alt levels fluctuate between “high” and “very high.”
S alt saturation of lake water is a variable value. Perhaps in one place it will be extremely high, in another it will not go beyond the usual parameters. According to observations, during the two spring months (October-November), the difference in s alt concentration between the northern and southern parts of Poopo was 300%.
The second significant factor influencing the lake's salinity is the nearby mineral deposits and s alt marshes left over from the ancient Ballywyan Lake. Depending on weather conditions, pieces of s alt marshes can freely wash out of the rock, making the concentration of saline in the waters of Poopo even higher.
Floraand fauna
In the waters of the lake, unique species of fish feel great: catfish mauri, ispi, karache. In the middle of the 20th century, ichthyologists started the process of breeding the Atlantic smelt and rainbow trout. Thanks to the efforts of scientists, Lake Poopo in Bolivia is a source of fishing for residents of nearby villages and villages: fish from it are caught, eaten and offered for sale.
Another feature makes Poopo especially attractive to tourists. Every year, thousands of migratory birds find temporary shelter on the banks of this reservoir. With the onset of the season, tourists can observe more than thirty species of migratory birds and up to a dozen species of local birds. Lake Poopo is the only habitat for the Andean gull, Bird's oystercatcher, Andean condor and several other endemic species that are rightfully listed in the international Red Book. In addition, tourists can enjoy the rare beauty of the spectacle of the unique flamingos of Lake Poopo. Photos of these amazing birds often grace the pages of nature periodicals.
The flora is represented by various shrubs, herbs, cacti. The main attraction of the Poopo world can be called several types of prickly pear, many of which are truly beautiful during the flowering period.
Unknown story
Roughly hewn stone blocks are clearly visible not far from the coast of Poopo. Their origin is the work of human hands, because each face of the block is smooth, and the shape of the stone is very close to a regular parallelepiped. Similar blocks of artificialof origin were east of Lake Titicaca. As far as we know, serious archaeological research has not been carried out in this area, so the nature of the mysterious blocks remains a mystery.
Now ordinary people live on the shores of Lake Poopo, most of whom work in mines - there are quite a lot of minerals in this area. But the quality of life in the area is well below the average for the Latin American region. The level of provision of legal and medical assistance is one of the lowest in the country, and the average life expectancy is only 58 years. And it's not just because of the hard physical work. In addition to the high s alt content, Lake Poopo surprises with a high concentration of heavy metals - arsenic, zinc, cadmium turn the water of the lake into an explosive mixture, from the poisoning of which people quickly die. Even imported fresh water does not help - during the period of drought, the vapors of the lake, together with the air, penetrate into the lungs of the people living here. Heavy metals settle in the body, causing rapid death. The poison also penetrates through the stomach: the fish living in the lake are simply saturated with heavy metals. Therefore, no one is in a hurry to settle in this region.
Lake drying up
In early 2016, scientists from the European Space Agency sounded the alarm - Lake Poopo evaporated, disappeared from the world map. An analysis of thousands of satellite images confirmed the sad diagnosis - in the near future the unique Lake Poopo may disappear from the face of the earth. The area of the water surface has decreased tenfold - fromthree hundred thousand square meters, according to observations in 2014, up to thirty-plus square meters as of January 2016.
Scientists of the ESA associate such a catastrophe with environmental problems in the area. The restoration of the lake, according to scientists, will take more than twenty years. And this is if the drought does not occur during this period and will not restrain the growth of the water surface. Whether such predictions come true, time will tell.
