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Inca Huasi was a paleolake in the Andes. It was named by a research team in 2006.[1]

It existed about 46,000 years ago in the Salar de Uyuni basin.[2] Water levels during this episode rose by about 10 metres (33 ft). Overall, this lake cycle was short and not deep,[1] with water levels reaching a height of 3,670 metres (12,040 ft). The lake would have had a surface of 21,000 square kilometres (8,100 sq mi).[3] Most water was contributed to it by the Uyuni-Coipasa drainage basin, with only minimal contributions from Lake Titicaca.[4] Changes in the South American monsoon may have triggered its formation.[5]

Radiocarbon dates on tufa which formed in Lake Inca Huasi were dated at 45,760 ± 440 years ago.[2] Uranium-thorium dating has yielded ages between 45,760 and 47,160 years.[6] Overall the lake existed between 46,000 and 47,000 years ago.[7] The Inca Huasi cycle coincides with the marine isotope stage 3,[8] the formation of a deep lake in the Laguna Pozuelos basin and the expansion of glaciers in several parts of South America[9] including the Puna.[10]

This lake cycle took part during a glacial epoch, along with the Sajsi lake cycles.[11] A more humid climate in northeastern Argentina and elsewhere in subtropical South America has been linked to the Inca Huasi phase.[5] However, rainfall might not have increased by much on the Altiplano during the Inca Huasi cycle.[7]

Other paleolakes are Coipasa, Ouki, Minchin, Sajsi, Salinas and Tauca.[2] Research made in 2006 attributed the "Lake Minchin" to this lake phase.[5]

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