Lake Lauricocha (possibly from

Huánuco Quechua Huánuco (; qu, Wanuku) is a city in central Peru. It had a population of 196,627 as of 2017 and in 2015 it had a population of 175,068. It is the capital of the Huánuco Region and the Huánuco District. It is the seat of the diocese of Huán ...

''lawri'' bluish,

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

''qucha'' lake, lagoon, "bluish lake") is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

mountains of central

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, within

Huánuco Region Huánuco (; qu, Wanuku) is a city in central Peru. It had a population of 196,627 as of 2017 and in 2015 it had a population of 175,068. It is the capital of the Huánuco Region and the Huánuco District. It is the seat of the diocese of Huán ...

Geography

The lake, formed by

glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...

action, is located on the western slopes of the Raura mountain range and the

Cordillera Huayhuash Huayhuash (possibly from Quechua ''waywash'', weasel'','' or ''waywashi'', squirrel) is a mountain range within the Andes of Peru, in the boundaries of the regions of Ancash, Lima and Huánuco.escale.minedu.gob.pe - UGEL map of the Cajatambo Prov ...

which rises to elevations of more that . The lake has a surface elevation of and has an east-west orientation. It is long, wide and has an average depth of The lake is part of the basin of the

Lauricocha River Lawriqucha River (Huánuco Quechua ''lawri'' bluish, Quechua language, Quechua ''qucha'' lake, lagoon, "bluish lake", hispanicized spelling ''Lauricocha'') is a river in the Huánuco Region in Peru. It belongs to the watershed of the Marañón Rive ...

, A Jesuit priest named

Samuel Fritz Samuel Fritz SJ (9 April 1654 – 20 March 1725, 1728 or 1730) was a Czech Jesuit missionary, noted for his exploration of the Amazon River and its basin. He spent most of his life preaching to Indigenous communities in the western Amazon r ...

drew a map in 1707 which showed the

Marañón River , name_etymology = , image = Maranon.jpg , image_size = 270 , image_caption = Valley of the Marañón between Chachapoyas ( Leimebamba) and Celendín , map = Maranonrivermap.png , map_size ...

as the main stream of the

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

. He identified Lake Lauricocha as the source of the Amazon. Several additional places have since been proposed as sources of the Amazon. The Lauricocha River flows out of the lake. A hamlet also called Lauricocha is near the outlet of the lake. A stone bridge dating from the

Inca Empire The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

crosses the river. The bridge is part of the ''Qhapac nan,'' the

Inca road system The Inca road system (also spelled Inka road system and known as ''Qhapaq Ñan''Qhapaq=rich, powerful, opulent, wealthy, privileged; ñan=road, way, path, route. Source "Diccionario quechua - español - quechua" Gobierno Regional Cusco - Cusco ...

, which passed here enroute from

Cuzco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru; ...

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

in present-day

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

. Lumbreras, Luis Guillermo (2004).Presentación. Proyecto Qhapaq Ñan Informe de Campaña 2002-2003. Instituto Nacional de Cultura, Lima. Overlooking the lake is Lauricocha cave, an archaeological site with evidence of human beings residing there 12,000 years ago.Fehren-Schmitz; L, Llamas, B.; Lindauer, S.; et al (2015), "A Re-Appraisal of Early Andean Human Remains from Lauricocha in Peru," ''PLOS ONE' Vol. 10, No. 6, page 2. DOI:10.1371

Ecology

The predominant species of fish in the lake is the introduced

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

. Among the fauna present around the lake are birds like ducks,

tinamous Tinamous () form an order of birds called Tinamiformes (), comprising a single family called Tinamidae (), divided into two distinct subfamilies, containing 46 species found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The word "tinamou" comes ...

and hawks; and mammals like tarucas, vizcachas,

foxes Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

and

skunks Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or ginge ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Lauricocha Lauricocha Lauricocha Upper Amazon