Peach Lake is an extraordinary place. It consists entirely of liquid bitumen. For this reason, Peach Lake is also called an asphalt lake. Let us consider below in detail what kind of a reservoir it is, what is its history and geographical location.
Asphalt lake
Peach Lake is a unique pond of its kind. As mentioned above, instead of water, it contains liquid bitumen. That is why in translation from English its name means "bitumen lake". And bitumen itself is a resinous substance and a mixture of hydrocarbons with their various derivatives. It is a natural mineral. Bitumen also includes derivatives of oil, and the product itself is divided into asphalts, asphaltenes, maltes, etc. It is interesting, but because of its properties, it cannot be dissolved in water. But how did bitumen end up in the lake?
The fact is that, as mentioned above, natural asphalt is a mineral that occurs in nature and can exist by itself, without human intervention. And so it turned out that Peach Lake is just one big reservoir of bitumen that burst out from the bowels of the earth. Nevertheless, it is considered a lake, despite the fact that it is not water at all.
Geography
There is an asphalt lake in Trinidad, in the southwest of the island. This place is also part of the island state of Trinidad and Tobago, located in the Caribbean Sea (northeast of South America). Interestingly, almost the entire population of the republic is concentrated on the island.
Peach Lake occupies approximately 40 hectares. But its depth is as much as 80 meters, which is considered very deep even for ordinary lakes. Presumably Peach Lake arose as a result of a collision of tectonic plates and is regularly replenished with a substance from the very bowels of the earth. No one has studied the bottom of the lake, since it is practically almost impossible, but it is assumed that there is oil at the very bottom, which constantly flows out from deeper places. Light components evaporate, while heavy ones remain. Peach Lake is the largest asphalt lake in the world, but there are still places on Earth. For example, in the Sea, known to all the Dead, in which, due to its salinity, it is impossible to drown, and where there is practically no life. Here, tar deposits are located in some places deep under water.
History
The first person to discover the asphalt lake was the explorer Walter Raleigh. It happened in 1595. He noticed that the local Indians were processing their canoes with bitumen, and also began to use the contents of Peach Lake to tarry their ships.
In the 19th century, bitumen was already used for laying roads. To be precise, the extraction of resources began in 1857. Thus, the material is used today. And for the first time this natural asphalt paved one street in the city of Washington. Bitumen was convenient and versatile in its strength and quality: roads made from it did not melt in the heat and did not crack in frost. Asphalt has become indispensable in its kind, and it is still used. From bitumen at one time they even paved the way to the famous London Buckingham Palace.
Legends
An interesting legend has been circulating among locals for a long time . A long time ago, on the site of a lake on the island of Trinidad lived the Indians of the Chima tribe. Once they defeated their enemies and decided to celebrate it with a feast. They ate a lot of hummingbird birds, which are considered sacred on the island, since the spirits of their ancestors sit in them. After this, the gods were very angry and cursed that place - they caused a break in the earth, after which tarry fluids flooded the whole village of the Chima tribe. Nevertheless, this is only a legend and is a pleasant addition for regular tourists on an asphalt lake.
Interesting Facts
In addition to its unusual nature and the fact that the lake has asphalt instead of water, it is surprising with many other things:
- Peach Lake is small but deep (80 meters), so according to some reports it contains 6 million tons of asphalt!
- Bitumen expensive not only greatly outperforms artificial asphalt, they are also durable, therefore this resource is used for laying runways for airplanes.
- Reserves of the lake are regularly replenished from the bowels of the earth; more than 10 million tons of asphalt have been extracted from it for the entire time.
- According to experts, at the current rate of extraction of this natural resource for laying bitumen roads should be enough for another 4 centuries!
- Asphalt from Peach Lake is mainly used for export to more than 50 countries.
- The lake has one surprising fact: it can absorb objects into itself, and then return to the surface after a millennium. So, recently, pieces were found from the skeleton of a giant sloth living in the Pleistocene era, a mastodon tooth (a trunk mammal extinct 10,000 years ago), as well as some objects of Indians who lived on the territory of Peach Lake for a long time. Moreover, in 1928 a surfaced tree was discovered, whose age is 4 thousand years.
- Bitumen in Peach Lake is resilient, water often accumulates on the surface after rains, which acquires a beautiful oil “rainbow”. There are also tracks for tourists, and a car can drive along the surface, but if it stops, it will begin to sink. Therefore, tourists are not recommended to go far from the coast, it is better to avoid the places of hollows. Below, the photo of Peach Lake (asphalt lake) shows an already experienced local resident.
How to get there
The lake is not only useful because of its asphalt, but it is also the main attraction of Trinidad, which is visited by over 20 thousand tourists a year. It is dangerous to walk here alone or alone, since paths are sometimes difficult to notice, and you can get into the hollow. For an excursion, you should turn to a guide who will take you to different places of Peach Lake. For a walk it is important to choose comfortable waterproof shoes with a thick sole. Also, it is forbidden to smoke and light a fire, as this is dangerous due to the high content of sulfur and methane in the air. Nevertheless, the views are extremely mesmerizing in the photo of Peach Lake.
Asphalt lake is located 50 km south of the state capital - the city of Port of Spain, and very close to the city of La Brea. But it is better to get with a tour from a local tour operator. And it’s real to fly here, but, as a rule, with transfers in some American cities.