Cuicocha
| Cuicocha | ||
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| Laguna Cuicocha | ||
| Geographical location | Ecuador | |
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| Coordinates | 0 ° 18 '4 " N , 78 ° 21' 28" W | |
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particularities |
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The Cuicocha ( Kichwa Kuykucha , "guinea pig lake " or Kuychikucha , "rainbow lake ") is a caldera and a crater lake with a diameter of about three kilometers at the foot of the Cotacachis in the Ecuadorian Andes ( Imbabura province ). The caldera was formed by a massive phreatic eruption about 3,100 years ago that created a pyroclastic flow of about five cubic kilometers of material and covered the surrounding area up to 20 cm deep with volcanic ash . The volcano has been dormant since that time. In connection with volcanic eruptions from neighboring volcanoes like the Imbabura , the Mojanda , the Cotacachi and the Cayambe , it is responsible for the fertile soil of the Otavalo Valley.
The outflow-free crater lake within the caldera contains four lava domes made of Dacite , which form two steep, forested islands . Entry to these two islands called Yerovi and Teodoro Wolf is not permitted. The island of Teodoro Wolf is named after the geologist Theodor Wolf . The edge of the caldera is very steep and does not allow vegetation . An older Pleistocene lava dome forms part of the eastern edge. The lake, which is a maximum of 200 m deep, is highly alkaline and has little life .
On the other hand, there is life on the islands of the lake; The silver grebes should be mentioned here in particular , who live in the reeds and feed on algae . Although this bird is found all over the Andes, little is known about it. In 1974 a census showed a population of 44 birds in Cuicocha.
Cuicocha forms the southern part of the Cotacachi-Cayapas nature reserve . On the second day of Inti Raymi (Sun Festival) to the summer solstice take indigenous Kichwa - shaman in Cuicocha a ritual purification.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Raúl Clemente Ceballos Calapi: Desde San Juan, San Pedro y Santa Lucía hacia la construcción social y política de Inti Raymi en Cotacachi, Imbabura , Facultad latinoamericana de ciencias sociales FLACSO, Cotacachi 2006.
- ^ Cuicocha in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (accessed March 24, 2006)
- ↑ Cuicocha, magico lago en Imbabura (Spanish). Retrieved March 24, 2006 .
- ↑ Cuicocha. Retrieved March 24, 2006 .
- ^ Susan G. Hilsenbeck: Food of Silvery Grebes (Podiceps occipitalis) at lake Cuicocha, Ecuador . In: The Condor . 81, No. 3, 1978, p. 316.
- ^ Leticia Córdova Molina: Las fiestas del solsticio Inti Raymi (Spanish). Retrieved March 24, 2006 .