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Cotacotani Lake

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Cotacotani Lake

Laguna de Cotacotani (Hispanicized expression) or Quta Qutani (Aymara quta lake, the reduplication signifies there is a group or complex of something, -ni is a suffix to indicate ownership, "the one with a group of lakes") is a lake located in the Andean Altiplano of the Parinacota Province, Arica-P

arinacota Region, Chile. It lies 4 km northwest of Chungará Lake, which is one of the highest lakes in the world and is surrounded by several volcanoes, such as the Payachata volcanic group (Parinacota and Pomerape), Sajama volcano and Wallatiri. Cotacotani is separated from the lake Chungará by a strip of volcanic rock and receives groundwater inflow from that lake, however its major sources are Benedicto Morales River and El Encuentro Creek. Cotacotani Lake's main feature is the considerable number of islands and islets that it holds, which are really lava hummocks generated by a past volcanic event. With a surface of 6 km2, the Cotacotani holds a volume of water between 30 and 40 million of m³, which empty through Lauca River into Coipasa Lake, in Bolivia. Although much of its present hummocky topography is related to a large volcanic debris avalanche occurred in the zone, this lacustrine...

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