Mar Chiquita
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Laguna Mar Chiquita Mar de Ansenuza |
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| Geographical location | Cordoba , Argentina , South America | |
| Tributaries | Río Dulce , Río Suquía (Primero), Río Xanaes (Segundo) | |
| Drain | drainless ( salt lake ) | |
| Places on the shore | Miramar , Morteros , Playa Grande | |
| Location close to the shore | Cordoba , Santa Fe | |
| Data | ||
| Coordinates | 30 ° 30 ′ S , 62 ° 40 ′ W | |
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| Altitude above sea level | 71 m | |
| surface | 5 770 km² | |
| Maximum depth | 19 m | |
| Middle deep | 16 m | |
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particularities |
largest lake in Argentina, second largest real lake in South America |
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| Bank of the Mar Chiquita near Miramar | ||
The Laguna Mar Chiquita (also Mar de Ansenuza ) is the largest lake in Argentina and the second largest lake in South America after Lake Titicaca . It is still the fifth largest lake in the world with no outflow.
location
The lake is located in the northeast of the province of Córdoba in the central part of the country, but extends into the provinces of Santiago del Estero and Santa Fe . On most maps, for example on the map visible in this article, the lake is shown in the dimensions that it had around 1950, when it only covered around 2,000 square kilometers.
Geographic
The lake is fed by three large rivers ( Río Dulce , Río Suquía and Río Xanaes ), but has no outflow itself. This means that its extent changes constantly, depending on how high the amount of precipitation is. The area covered by water fluctuates extremely, depending on the amount of precipitation between 2,000 and 10,000 square kilometers (highest level 1958). Today the area is estimated at around 5,770 square kilometers. In the 1970s, the lake expanded considerably (high in 1977 at 8 m above normal) and flooded very large areas in the north and east as well as part of the seaside resort of Miramar on the south bank . He has been withdrawing a little since the 1990s.
Due to the flat topography of the surrounding area, the depth of the lake is only a maximum of 19 meters, and only 12 meters at low tide.
There are numerous islands in the northern half of the lake in particular, but most of them are very shallow and are often flooded.
population
The area around the lake is sparsely populated, as the change in area of the lake represents an enormous challenge for people, especially for agriculture. There are only two places right on the coast, Miramar and Playa Grande. The largest town in the region, Morteros , is five kilometers east of the east coast of the lake.
tourism
The lake is a highly frequented holiday and spa center, as the water is salty and has a high proportion of minerals that help against many diseases. Depending on the water level, the salt content also changes between 25 and 290 g / l. Today it is around 80 g / l and is therefore comparable to the salinity of normal seas.
In the period between 1940 and the 1977 flood, the lake was a popular destination for international tourists, mainly because of these characteristics. After the flood, tourist activity declined rapidly. Only since 1992, when the reconstruction of the coastal promenade began in the only seaside resort of Miramar, has tourism on the lake experienced a boom again.
Protected areas
The entire lake and part of the marshy estuary of the Río Dulce north of Mar Chiquita are under nature protection. The reserve is called Refugio de Vida Silvestre, Depresión Salina de los Bañados del Río Dulce y Laguna Mar Chiquita . The lake has also been declared a Sitio Hemisférico , an award given to areas that are particularly worth preserving for the fauna and flora of the western hemisphere. A particularly large number of migratory bird species stop at the lake on their way from Patagonia to the Arctic and vice versa. The lake is best known as a permanent habitat for flamingos , which have no problems adapting to changing conditions (changing salinity, extent).
At the beginning of 2005, the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba established a research center on the lake to research the fluctuations in the lake surface and the influence of population and economic developments in its catchment area. In particular, it is feared that the expansion of irrigation activities on the tributary Río Dulce could draw water from the lake, with the result that the lake would gradually dry out, similar to the Aral Sea .
Web links
- Page with information in German about the lake
- Official website of the seaside resort of Miramar , with photos of the lake and facts about the fluctuation of the water level (Spanish)
- Comparison of satellite images from 1992 and 2012