Lake Guanoco ( Spanish: ''Lago Guanoco'' or ''Lago de Asfalto de Guanoco'', also Lake Bermudez) is the world's second largest natural

tar pit Tar pits, sometimes referred to as asphalt pits, are large asphalt deposits. They form in the presence of oil, which is created when decayed organic matter is subjected to pressure underground. If this crude oil seeps upward via fractures, condu ...

and lies in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

in northern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. Lake Guanoco is one of the five natural asphalt lake areas in the world, the others being

Pitch Lake The Pitch Lake is the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world, estimated to contain 10 million tons. It is located in La Brea in southwest Trinidad, within the Siparia Regional Corporation. The lake covers about 100 acres (0.405 squa ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

and

La Brea Tar Pits La Brea Tar Pits is an active paleontological research site in urban Los Angeles. Hancock Park was formed around a group of tar pits where natural asphalt (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; ''brea'' in Spanish) has seeped up from the gro ...

(

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

), McKittrick Tar Pits ( McKittrick) and Carpinteria Tar Pits ( Carpinteria) all located in the US state of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

., National Library and Information System Authority, National Library of Trinidad and Tobago, accessdate=2010-08-28
Electric Universe Geology.com, accessdate=2010-08-28
Electric Universe Theory Forum, accessdate=2010-08-28

Geography

Lake Guanoco lies in the state of Sucre (state), Estado Sucre about southeast of

Cumaná Cumaná () is the capital city of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located east of Caracas. Cumaná was one of the first cities founded by Spain in the mainland Americas and is the oldest continuously-inhabited Hispanic-established city in South ...

close to '' Libertador'' at the Guanoco River only about east of the '' Golfo de Paria''. s:Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 81.djvu/176, WikiSource, accessdate=2010-08-28 The asphalt lake has a surface area of about and the depth varies between .
Encyclopædia Britannica, accessdate=2010-08-28, Instituto Venezolano del Asfalto INVEAS.org, accessdate=2010-08-28 Even though Lake Guanoco is larger in area than Trinidad's Pitch Lake, it is smaller in volume; nevertheless its tar is purer. Lake Guanoco is also different from other asphalt lakes as it is covered in vegetation.

Geology

All asphalt lakes were probably created during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided by ...

and share the same geological principle. Asphalt lakes are the largest examples of natural oil seeps. They occur when oil migrating toward the surface as a result of buoyancy (oil is lighter than ground water) actually reaches the surface, instead of being trapped in deeper stratigraphic layers. The reason the petroleum becomes asphaltic, or tarry, is the action of oil-metabolizing bacteria. This process of

biodegradation Biodegradation is the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. It is generally assumed to be a natural process, which differentiates it from composting. Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegrada ...

occurs close to the earth's surface, where temperatures are low enough for the bacteria to thrive, and where the oil is surrounded by fresh meteoric water.

History

It is unknown when Lake Guanoco was discovered, it has been known for a long time by the Warao people who used the asphalt for their canoes. In 1799 German Explorer

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...

described the site during his Latin American expedition as "The spring of the good priest" ("''Quelle des guten Priesters''").
PariaTours.de (in German), accessdate=2010-08-28 In 1883 the government of Venezuela signed a contract with Americans Horacio R. Hamilton and Jorge A. Phillips who received concessions for 25 years to mine asphalt. This concession caused some debate as the profits went to foreign companies. In 1890 the mining started by the :es:New York & Bermúdez Company, New York & Bermúdez Company, a subsidiary of

General Asphalt A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED On ...

based in New York. In 1899 the government under

Cipriano Castro José Cipriano Castro Ruiz (12 October 1858 – 4 December 1924) was a high-ranking member of the Venezuelan military, politician and the president of Venezuela from 1899 to 1908. He was the first man from the Andes to rule the country, and was ...

put higher taxes on the company; in response the company supported politically the opposing side under

Manuel Antonio Matos Manuel Antonio Matos Páez Tinoco (8 January 1847 – 5 December 1929) was a Venezuelan politician, banker, military leader and diplomat. Biography Matos held a great political and economic influence on the country, during the late 19th and earl ...

. The conflict escalated and culminated in 1902-1903 in the "Asphalt War / Venezuelan conflict". The conflict even led to a temporary interruption in the diplomatic relations with the USA between June and December 1908, after Castro had

expropriated Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

the company.
OrienteWeb, accessdate=2010-08-28 In 1934 the commercial mining of the asphalt stopped and has not been re-established since.

References

{{Reflist

External links

About Lake Guanoco asphalt lake

Map of Lake Guanoco

Older picture (1917) of Lake Guanoco

Picture of Lake Guanoco
Asphalt lakes, Bermudez Landforms of Venezuela Geography of Sucre (state)