General Carrera Lake (Chilean part, officially renamed in 1959)[2] or Lake Buenos Aires (Argentine part) is a lake located in Patagonia and shared by Argentina and Chile. Both names are internationally accepted, while the autochthonous name of the lake is Chelenko, which means "stormy waters" in Aonikenk.[3]

General Carrera Lake
Buenos Aires Lake Lake Buenos Aires
General Carrera Lake in the Aysén Region
General Carrera Lake
Location	Lago Buenos Aires Department, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina / General Carrera Province, Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region, Chile, in Patagonia
Coordinates	46°26′15″S 71°42′54″W[1]
Type	Moraine dammed
Primary inflows	Soler, Los Antiguos, Jeinemeni, Ibáñez, San Martín, Delta
Primary outflows	Bertrand Lake and then Baker River (Pacific Ocean) Deseado River (Atlantic Ocean)
Basin countries	Argentina, Chile
Surface area	1,850 km2 (710 sq mi)
Max. depth	586 m (1,923 ft)
Surface elevation	217 m (712 ft)
Settlements	Chile Chico, Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez, Puerto Guadal, Los Antiguos
References	[1]

The lake is of glacial origin and is surrounded by the Andes mountain range. The lake drains to the Pacific Ocean on the west through the Baker River.

The weather in this area of Chile and Argentina is generally cold and humid. But the lake itself has a sunny microclimate, a weather pattern enjoyed by the few settlements along the lake, such as Puerto Guadal, Fachinal, Mallín Grande, Puerto Murta, Puerto Río Tranquilo, Puerto Sánchez, Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez and Chile Chico in Chile, and Los Antiguos and Perito Moreno in Argentina.

The area near the coast of the lake was first inhabited by criollos and European immigrants between 1900 and 1925. In 1971 and 1991, eruptions of the Hudson Volcano severely affected the local economy, especially that of sheep farming. A car ferry operates between Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez and Chile Chico in the Chilean sector of the lake. The lake is known as a trout and salmon fishing destination.

Area

The lake has a surface of 1,850 km² (710 sq mi) of which 970 square kilometres (370 sq mi) are in the Chilean Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region, and 880 square kilometres (340 sq mi) in the Argentine Santa Cruz Province, making it the biggest lake in Chile, and the fourth largest in Argentina. In its western basin, Lake Gen. Carrera has 586 m (1,923 ft) maximum depth.[4]

Geology

The lake occupies a continental-scale graben formed by SWS-ENE normal faults that have resulted in down dropping the bottom of the lake to 350 meters (1,150 ft) below mean sea level.[5] Preservation of younger lithostratigraphic units within the graben form reverse stratigraphy with older units exposed at higher topographic elevations to the south. The graben channeled mountain glaciers which formed terminal moraine helping to modify the present-day shape of the lake. The tectonic activity that formed the depression can be inferred to subduction of the triple joint that has occurred over the past 20 million years, as indicated by ripple marks in volcaniclastic sediments observed along the southern shoreline. There is some speculation on whether the tectonics and crustal heat flow in the lake area are influenced by the asthenospheric window that exists beneath the crust in this region of Patagonia.[6]

The Marble Caves, Marble Chapel, and Marble Cathedral are unusual geological formations located on the shoreline midway along the lake's length. They represent a group of caverns, columns, and tunnels formed in monoliths of marble. The Marble Caves have been formed by wave action over the last 6,200 years.[7]

Gallery

• 
  SRTM-Topography of the Chilean zone
• 
  Boat near Chile Chico in Chile
• 
  Map of the Chilean zone
• 
  Folded and weathered marble at General Carrera Lake

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to General Carrera Lake.

На других языках

[de] Lago Buenos Aires/General Carrera

[es] Lago Buenos Aires/General Carrera

[fr] Lac Buenos Aires/General Carrera

[it] Lago Buenos Aires/General Carrera

[ru] Буэнос-Айрес (озеро)