- Location: Southern Main Rd, southwest of the island of Trinidad, near the village of La Brea;
- Recommended time of visit: 09.00-17.00;
- Safety precautions: it is forbidden to smoke near the lake
On the island of Trinidad is Lake Peach Lake, which is a major source of natural bitumen.
Interesting name
In the original translation from English, the name of Lake Peach Lake - Pitch Lake means bitumen lake. In some cases it is called asphalt lake Peach Lake.
Where is Lake Peach Lake?
Bitumen lake is found on the island of Trinidad in its southwestern part. Near the outlandish pond is the village of La Brea.
Lake Peach Lake on the map looks relatively small, because its area is only about 40 hectares, but studies have shown that the average depth of the lake is about 80 meters, which is very much for any water body.
The legend of the Indians about Lake Peach Lake
The indigenous people tell the legend, according to which many hundreds of years ago, the Indians of the Chima tribe lived on the lake's site. One day, after a grand victory over the enemy tribe, a feast was held, during which happy Indians cooked and ate a great number of sacred birds of Trinidad colored hummingbirds.
According to the beliefs of the Indians, hummingbirds are considered as spirits of ancestors because of their small weight and size. And in punishment, the formidable gods in the curses broke the ground and caused a stream of tar that covered the whole village and its inhabitants.
Of course, today this legend causes only a smile, because the hummingbird on the island flutters countless.
History of Lake Peach Lake
The discoverer of the asphalt lake from the Old World was seafarer Walter Raleigh. He saw how the Indians infiltrated their canoe, and began using the bitumen of Lake Peach Lake for the resin works of the plating of their ships.
Geologists believe that the formation of the lake was due to a deep fault of the earth's crust and partial immersion of one break under the Caribbean plate in the Antilles, in particular Barbados. Although a full study of the lake was not carried out, it is believed that at the bottom it is slowly replenished with oil along the fault boundary. After that, light components evaporate with time, and heavy and viscous fractions remain.
In the middle of the XIX it was discovered that the bitumen lake Peach Lake can be used for construction and road works. The first street, covered with natural asphalt, was Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. And later they were covered with an avenue leading to Buckingham Palace in London. And since then the material is used in the construction of bridges and highways, it is surprisingly viscous and homogeneous, does not melt at 40-degree heat and does not crack at 25-degree frost. Natural asphalt withstands serious loads, so many runways in the world are made from it.
What is the famous Lake Peach Lake?
Bitumen lake in Trinidad is considered to be the largest natural asphalt reservoir. Similar "reservoirs" were later discovered in California, Venezuela, Turkmenistan and other places.
The surface of the lake is oily and viscous, at its depth there is a constant movement and chemical processes. A very interesting property of bitumen wells is the ability to absorb and return objects, even after thousands of years.
On Lake Peach Lake, some interesting artifacts have been found: part of the skeleton of a giant sloth that died out in these places over 6,000 years ago, the tooth of a mastodon, some items of Indian tribes. The most interesting find is the oldest tree, which surfaced in 1928. Before it again plunged into bitumen, we managed to do it down, and it was determined that the tree was about 4 thousand years old.
Peach Lake today
Even today, very few people know that there is a lake in Trinidad consisting of oil. Today, active asphalt mining takes place on Lake Peach Lake, several tens of thousands of tons of material are extracted from it every year. The reserves of the lake are estimated at 6 million tons, and since they are considered renewable, the bitumen will last at least another 400 years. Almost all the extracted asphalt is exported.
Besides industrial importance, the lake is a local landmark, about 20 thousand people come here annually.
Beauty oil
Interestingly, but in the folds of the lake after the rain for a long time water is visible, playing oil films with a bright rainbow. There are even several islands with plants on it. On the coastal surface can pass and a truck, but if it stops, then immediately begins to sink. Each excavation after extraction is approximately equalized within a week, gradually decreases and disappeared without a trace. Therefore, do not underestimate the physical processes and go far from the shore, especially on fresh spots.
And swimming in the accumulated rain water bodies is not always safe. In general, the canoe for Peach-Lake, too, will not be rolled.
How to get to the lake?
Local licensed tour operators conduct organized excursions in jeeps to the lake and back. Recommended hours of visit Peach Lake from 9 am to 17 pm, near the lake is prohibited from smoking because of the high content of sulfur in the air and methane. You need to take care of comfortable shoes and keep up with the guide, he will guide you on a hiking trail through the most interesting places.
Near the lake there is an information center, here you can buy booklets about bitumen lake and souvenirs for memory or take a guide if you want to walk yourself.
| | | |
