Lake Cabana is an ancient lake in the

Altiplano The Altiplano (Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechua and Aymara: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla") or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extensive high plateau on Earth outside Tibet. The plateau is located at the ...

. The lake reached a water level of over the central and northern Altiplano, above the current lake levels of

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, ...

. The Capalla- Ulloma sill, which separates the Altiplano into a northern and southern basin, did not exist at that time and it did not split up the Cabana lake body. It left deposits reaching thicknesses of of thickness; they have been found on the western and eastern sides of the basin. Erosion platforms and terraces covered with gravels and other wave cut structures are remnants of Lake Cabana. In 1984, this lake was named by a group of researchers around A. Lavenu. Other ancient lakes on the Altiplano are

Lake Mataro Lake Mataro is an ancient lake in the Andes. It formed over the northern Altiplano at an altitude of and extended over the central Altiplano. It is one of the ancient lakes of the Altiplano like Lake Minchin, Lake Ballivian and Lake Cabana. It e ...

, Lake Ballivian,

Lake Minchin Lake Minchin is a name of an ancient lake in the Altiplano of South America. It existed where today the Salar de Uyuni, Salar de Coipasa and Lake Poopó lie. It was formerly considered the highest lake in the Altiplano but research indicated that ...

and Lake Tauca. An erosion surface at elevation and associated

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

s were formerly attributed with Ballivián but today shorelines at that elevation are instead associated with Cabana. The lake existed about 1 million years ago. It was preceded by Lake Mataro and succeeded by Lake Escara and Lake Ballivian, the latter in the north and the former in the south. The Kaluyo glaciation preceded the formation of Lake Cabana, earlier it was believed that the high formations predated any glaciation. A phase of tectonic extension in the Titicaca basin may have favoured the formation of this lake. The existence of this lake may have facilitated the diversification of '' Heleobia'' snails, but increased speciation only occurred during the subsequent Ballivian episode.

References

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* * {{coord missing, Bolivia Geology of Bolivia Former lakes of South America Lakes of Bolivia Pleistocene Lakes of Peru Geology of Peru