Largest Lakes in Venezuela

Geology

Lake Maracaibo is located within the eponymous basin and is one of the oldest lakes on earth. It was formed 36 million years ago when the faults collapsed when the Andes were uplifted in the late Eocene. In the geological history, sea water and fresh water have alternated many times, and have flooded the area. At the end of the last glacial period, the sea level rose, connecting Lake Maracaibo directly with the Atlantic Ocean, and the lighter fresh water floated on the heavier salt water, causing nutrients to be deposited on the bottom of the lake, resulting in the accumulation of a more than five-kilometre (3 mi) thick deposit of sediment on the bedrock.

In the Pliocene, the depression of today's Lake Maracaibo reached what would be practically its current form.

History

The aboriginal Añú people who lived on the banks of the lake refer to it as Coquivacoa. The tribes of Wayuu, Caquetíos, and Quiriquires also lived in the area. When Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci and Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda's fleet sailed here on August 24, 1499 (the first time Europeans entered this area), the stilt houses in which the Añú lived in reminded Vespucci of the Italian city of Venice, so he named the region Veneziola (Venezuela in Spanish), or "Little Venice". Spain made two attempts to establish settlements around the lake in 1529 and 1569, but it was not until 1574 that the city of Maracaibo was successfully established. The Privateer Henry Morgan raided settlements on the lake in the Spring of 1669 and defeated a Spanish squadron sent to intercept him.

Climate

The annual average temperature of the lake area is 28 °C (82 °F); the precipitation is more in the south and less in the north, and the average annual rainfall in the south is 1,400 mm (55 in). The mountain wind from the Andes at night contacts the warm and humid air over the lake surface, contributing to an average rainfall of 297 mm (11.7 in) per year. The meteorological phenomenon known as Catatumbo lightning takes place over the southern part of the lake, characterized by a continuous series of lightnings that are almost silent. This makes Lake Maracaibo the place with the most frequent lightning on Earth. There are about 233 lightning strikes per square kilometre in a year on average. The nocturnal thunderstorms occur on average about 297 days per year.

Geography

Lake Valencia is the third largest lake in Venezuela, after Lake Maracaibo and Lake Guri reservoir.

The lake is located in one of the Aragua valleys, between the parallel sub-Serranía del Interior in the Cordillera de la Costa Central, of the Venezuelan Coastal Ranges system.

The endorheic lake has natural discharge level at 427 m above sea level; the water level declined below this height about 250 years ago. Its surface level currently is 410 m above sea level, and is about 30 km long, has an area of 350 km2. The maximum depth is 39 m, the mean depth 18 m. The lake has a number of small islands, with some inhabited.

Its drainage basin (watershed area) of 2,646 km2. The most important river emptying into the lake is the Aragua River.

History

The lake was formed approximately 2–3 million years ago due to faulting and subsequent damming of the Cabriales River. The lake has been completely dry during several discrete periods of its geologic history.

Alexander von Humboldt visited the lake in 1800. He documented the negative impact of the surrounding population's land cultivation on the ecosystem. Deforestation and water diversion for irrigation led to the desiccation of Lake Valencia by dramatically reducing water levels. Lake Valencia is where Humboldt developed his conception of anthropogenic climate change.

Ecology

The lake suffers from algal blooms caused by continual influx of untreated wastewater from the surrounding urban, agricultural, and industrial land uses. This contributes to ongoing eutrophication, contamination, and salinization of the lake.

Despite its picturesque location between the Cordillera de la Costa to the north and the Serrania del Interior to the south, Lake Valencia's poor water quality limits opportunities for tourism and recreational activities. Due to pollution and other human induced changes, almost 60% of the native fish species in the lake were lost between 1960 and 1990. Among the fish in the lake is the diamond tetra, which is commonly kept in aquaria, while two species of catfish, Lithogenes valencia and Pimelodella tapatapae, are entirely endemic to the lake basin.