One theory is that a large earthquake in April opened an opening in the ground and the lake water seeped through
For the "before" and "after" picture on the BBC website
Scientists in Chile are investigating the circumstances of the sudden disappearance of a glacial lake in southern Chile. When the park rangers patrolled the territory of the Magellan area in the south of the country in March, the lake with an area of about 20 dunams was its normal size, however when they returned there last month they found a huge dry crater and several small blocks of ice that had previously floated on the surface of the water.
One of the theories is that an earthquake made an opening in the ground and the lake water seeped through. "In March we inspected the area and everything was fine" says Juan Jose Romaro from the National Forestry Society of Chile -CONAF. "We returned there in May and to our surprise we found that the lake had completely disappeared and all that was left of it were ice blocks and huge cracks.
Geologists and other minds were sent to the area, located about XNUMX km south of the capital Santiago, to investigate the phenomenon. The area is prone to small earthquakes and apparently a stronger earthquake, which hit the nearby area of Eisen in April, is the one that opened the rift in the bottom of the lake.
Glacier expert Andre Rivera told the Chilean newspaper La Terrasse that the disappearance of the lake appears to be part of an ongoing change of the surface. "The Magellan area has undergone interesting changes in recent decades," he said, adding that the lake itself did not exist even 30 years ago.
