Miscanti Lake (Spanish: ''Laguna Miscanti'') is a

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estua ...

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 ...

located 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 ...

of the

Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region ( es, Región de Antofagasta, ) is one of Chile's sixteen first-order administrative divisions. The second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta, El Loa and Tocopilla. It is bordered t ...

in northern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Cerro Miñiques volcano and

Cerro Miscanti Cerro Miscanti (also known as Ipira) is a mountain located in the Antofagasta Region of Chile, immediately south of Chiliques and north of Miñiques. It towers over Laguna Miscanti. Rock samples from Cerro Miscanti are of andesitic composition ...

tower over this lake. This large heart-shaped lake has a deep blue colour and developed in a basin formed by a fault. South of Miscanti lies

Laguna Miñiques Miñiques is the name of a lake and a volcano in Chile. It lies south of Laguna Miscanti and at the foot of the Cerro Miscanti volcano. The lake is fed from Laguna Miscanti by seepage and its waters are brackish. Lake Laguna Miñiques lies at ...

, another lake which is separated from Miscanti by a lava flow that was emplaced there during the Pleistocene. The lake is part of one of the seven sectors of

Los Flamencos National Reserve Los Flamencos National Reserve is a nature reserve located in the commune of San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta Region of northern Chile. The reserve covers a total area of in the Central Andean dry puna ecoregion and consists of seven separate sec ...

. A number of birds and mammals live at the lake, which is a major tourist destination.

Geography

Laguna Miscanti lies in the Central

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 ...

of Chile, east-southeast of the

Salar de Atacama Salar de Atacama is the largest salt flat in Chile. It is located south of San Pedro de Atacama, is surrounded by mountains, and has no drainage outlets. In the east it is enclosed by the main chain of the Andes, while to the west lies a secondar ...

. Administratively, it is part of the

. The closest town is

Socaire Socaire is a village located southeast of the town of San Pedro de Atacama, in the San Pedro de Atacama province of Chile's northern Antofagasta Region. It offers views overlooking the Salar de Atacama. The local economy is dominated by agricult ...

, away from the lake. A road departing from the Paso Sico international road goes to Miscanti, which is accessible by an unpaved road and numerous footpaths. In 2002, there were 5,000 tourists at Miscanti and the nearby lake

Miñiques Miñiques is a massive volcanic complex containing a large number of craters, lava domes and flows, located in the Antofagasta Region of Chile. Located south of Volcán Chiliques and west of Cordón Puntas Negras, it is part of a frequentl ...

, and in 2015, one in three tourists who went to the

visited Miscanti and Laguna Miñiques. An archeological site called "Miscanti-1" is found on the southeastern lake shore.

Hydrography and geology

Laguna Miscanti is a maximally deep lake with clear

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

water which covers a surface area of ; the lake has the shape of an arrowhead with a peninsula jutting from the northern shore. A lava flow separates the otherwise flat lake floor into two basins. In the Atacama Altiplano, Laguna Miscanti is among the biggest waterbodies. The mountains

() and Cerro Miñiques () lie northeast and south of the lake, respectively. south of the lake is another waterbody, Laguna Miñiques. In the past, the two lakes were connected, producing a large waterbody which has left beach terraces in the landscape and whose water levels were about higher than today. The separation of the lakes probably occurred 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 ...

, when a

lava flow Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or und ...

erupted from Cerro Miñiques split the lake basin in two. A number of creeks enter into Laguna Miscanti from the north, east and south (Quebrada de Chaquisoqui), and there are two

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

s on its northern shores. Miscanti and Miñiques occupy fault-bound basins; the Quebrada Nacimiento fault is also known as the Miscanti Fault and is part of a

detachment fault A detachment fault is a gently dipping normal fault associated with large-scale extensional tectonics. Detachment faults often have very large displacements (tens of km) and juxtapose unmetamorphosed hanging walls against medium to high-grade me ...

system east of the

, which separates the Western Cordillera from the

Cordillera Domeyko The Cordillera Domeyko is a mountain range of the Andes located in northern Chile, west of Salar de Atacama. It runs north-south for approximately 600 km, parallel to the main chain. The mountain range marks the eastern border of the flat pa ...

. This fault extends from the Purico complex, Llano de Chajnantor to Miñiques and has formed a ridge, which has dammed lava flows from Cerro Miscanti and Cerro Miñiques. The basins developed during the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Pleistocene 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 ...

;

Laguna Lejia Laguna (Italian and Spanish for lagoon) may refer to: People * Abe Laguna (born 1992), American DJ known as Ookay * Andrés Laguna (1499–1559), Spanish physician, pharmacologist, and botanist * Ana Laguna (born 1955), Spanish-Swedish ballet ...

also developed along this fault and the fault segment there is also known as Miscanti-Callejon de Varela fault. Volcanoes including

Lascar A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland, or other land east of the Cape of Good Hope, who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the middle of the 2 ...

and the Cerros Saltar and Corona north and south of Lascar formed on the fault.

Hydrology

The

catchment A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...

of the lake consists mainly of volcanic and sedimentary rocks ranging from

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

age and covers a surface area of , with

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

volcanoes that reach elevations of . The

Cordon de Puntas Negras Cordon may refer to: Basic meanings * Cordon (fashion), a cord (sewing) or braid used as a fastening or ornament * Cordon (plant), the descriptive term for a particular style of pruning woody plants * a strip of clay added around the outside of a ...

is the principal source of water. Water reaches Laguna Miscanti principally as

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...

, which is directed there by the fault; this may explain why Laguna Miscanti is a permanent lake rather than a playa. The lake has no surface outflow. Presently, water seeps to Miñiques through a

along the path of the Quebrada Nacimiento fault; during former lake highstands a combined lake overflowed into the Pampa Varela basin south-southwest of Miñiques. Most water, however, leaves Laguna Miscanti through

evaporation Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. High concentration of the evaporating substance in the surrounding gas significantly slows down evaporation, such as when humidi ...

. The town of Peine draws its

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

from the Miscanti basin.

Climate

Presently, the regional climate is

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...

, with average precipitation amounting to , and cold, with average annual temperatures of . During winter, ice develops on the lake surface. The lake area is usually a little warmer than the surrounding region. The region lies between areas dominated by summer precipitation in the northeast and areas dominated by winter precipitation in the southwest. In the late

and early Holocene the climate was much wetter and lakes expanded, especially during the first stage of the

Central Andean Pluvial Event Lake Tauca is a former lake in the Altiplano of Bolivia. It is also known as Lake Pocoyu for its constituent lakes: Lake Poopó, Salar de Coipasa and Salar de Uyuni. The lake covered large parts of the southern Altiplano between the Eastern Cordi ...

. The late Pleistocene—early Holocene wet period was particularly noticeable 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 ...

, where two separate phases of the

Lake Tauca Lake Tauca is a former lake in the Altiplano of Bolivia. It is also known as Lake Pocoyu for its constituent lakes: Lake Poopó, Salar de Coipasa and Salar de Uyuni. The lake covered large parts of the southern Altiplano between the Eastern Cordi ...

occurred. Conversely, the middle Holocene and the

last glacial maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Late Glacial Maximum, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period that ice sheets were at their greatest extent. Ice sheets covered much of Northern North America, Northern Eur ...

were dry. During the middle Holocene dry period, the lake may have dried up completely, forming a bog. After about 4,000 years ago, moisture availability increased again. Climate variability influenced human settlement in the region during the Holocene, which took place mainly during wetter periods and became concentrated in several environmentally favourable spaces during dry periods.

Biology

Widgeonweed grows at the lakeshores, while the algae

charophyte Charophyta () is a group of freshwater green algae, called charophytes (), sometimes treated as a phylum, division, yet also as a superdivision or an unranked clade. The terrestrial plants, the Embryophyta emerged within Charophyta, possibly fro ...

s and '' Chara'' and the water plant ''

Myriophyllum ''Myriophyllum'' (water milfoil) is a genus of about 69 species of freshwater aquatic plants, with a cosmopolitan distribution. The center of diversity for ''Myriophyllum'' is Australia with 43 recognized species (37 endemic). These submersed aq ...

'' grow in the lake. During its highstands, algal

bioherm A reef knoll is a land-based landform that comprises an immense pile of calcareous material that accumulated on a previously existing ancient sea floor. At the time of its accumulation it may have had enough structure from organisms such as sponges ...

s and stromatolithes developed in the water.

Diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising sev ...

s and

ostracode Ostracods, or ostracodes, are a class of the Crustacea (class Ostracoda), sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 70,000 species (only 13,000 of which are extant) have been identified, grouped into several orders. They are small crustaceans, typic ...

s have been identified in the lake sediments, and

amphipod Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descr ...

s in the lake waters. There are

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...

s consisting of '' Fabiana'', ''

Festuca ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on every ...

'' and '' Stipa chrysophylla'' around the lake, with sparser vegetation found on the upland, consisting of ''

Baccharis ''Baccharis'' is a genus of perennials and shrubs in the aster family (Asteraceae). They are commonly known as baccharises but sometimes referred to as "brooms", because many members have small thin leaves resembling the true brooms. They are n ...

'' species also known as "tolar" and ichu. Fauna that inhabits the area includes birds like

flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of Wader, wading bird in the Family (biology), family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas ...

s, '' Fulica ardesiaca'' (Andean coot), '' Fulica cornuta'' (Horned coot), '' Larus serranus'' (Andean gull), '' Lophonetta speculiarioides'' (Crested duck) and '' Podiceps occipitalis'' (silvery grebe), and mammals like '' Ctenomys opimus'' (Highland tuco-tuco), '' Lagidium viscacia'' (Southern viscacha), ''

Phyllotis darwini Darwin's leaf-eared mouse (''Phyllotis darwini'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It has terrestrial habits and is endemic to coastal central and northern Chile. It is also found in the Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert ( e ...

'' (Darwin's leaf-eared mouse), '' Pseudalopex culpaeus'' (culpeo) and ''

Vicugna vicugna ' is a genus containing four South American camelids, the wild guanaco and vicuña, and the domesticated llama and alpaca. Before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, llamas and alpacas were the only domesticated ungulates of the continent. ...

'' (vicuña); the two lakes are important

breeding Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant. Breeding may refer to: * Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and rab ...

sites for the horned coot. Laguna Miscanti and Laguna Miñiques are part of the third sector of the

, and are jointly administered by the community of

and by the National Forest Corporation.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{commons category, Laguna Miscanti Miscanti, Laguna Miscanti