Lake Lauquen Curry

The lake Cari Lauquen is an Argentinian lake , partially disappeared today following a catastrophe, and which was located at the border between the provinces of Mendoza and of Neuquén. It constituted the starting point of the Río Colorado.

Its name of origin Mapuche means in language Mapudungun great quantity of black water (where " Cari" = black and " lauquen" = great quantity of water).

In 1914, the frontal dam natural (formerly born of a mountainous collapse) of the lake yielded partially and its water was emptied almost completely, which caused a great catastrophe. A mass of water that some estimated at 1,55 billion tons (but others speak about 3 billion) precipitated downstream and traversed a distance of 1.000 kilometers to the Atlantic Ocean carrying all on its passage and making many victims in a population fortunately extremely sparse. One counted thus more than 300 dead in a distant zone (Hermanns and Al 2004).

Cause catastrophe

One allotted the cause of such a collapse to the secular cumulative effect of the seismic activity. But this activity is rather moderate in the area, which makes the explanation at the very least doubtful.

Another assumption with greater probabilities of being exact, consists in blaming the increasingly large use of water of the Andean rivers in the area of the Cuyo. Collapse would be an indirect effect. Indeed the too great use of water involved a progressive drying of the large lagoons like the Lagunas de Guanacache (at the origin of the Río Desaguadero) and those of the Río Atuel, as well as other large surface, but more especially underground tanks, in the areas of the Cuyo, and especially of the Comahue. It is consequently probable that caused a regional imbalance geological, which facilitated the collapse of the frontal natural dam which retained the lake Cari Lauquén.

For professor Ricardo Rocca, university of Córdoba, the rupture of the natural stopping was inevitable. Indeed, the analysis of the remains of the catastrophe shows that the natural stopping had been formed there is less than 427 years, following an enormous landslide which had barred the valley, therefore the course of the river. In light, a mountain had crumbled in the valley, barring the river. Proceeding by analogy (with the lake Sarez in formed Tadjikistan in the same way), it estimates that all the natural stoppings of this type (formed by landslide) unstable and are intended to yield. That can last of the centuries, but that must arrive early or late.

Current location

The big lake Cari Lauquen thus decreased brutally by volume in 1914, and it did not remain any more in its place but one small lake always present. However it is certain everywhere that this catastrophe can reproduce elsewhere, where lakes were formed by or collapse landslide of mountains.

Source

dangerosity of the natural dammings up by Ricardo J. Rocca

See too

the Lake Sarez with the Tadjikistan.
the Lake Riñihue with the Chile

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