Lakes of South America Trivia Quiz

Answer: Evaporation

Lake Poopó is located at an elevation of 3,700 metres in Bolivia's Altiplano Mountains. The lake has no major outlet, so most of the water simply evaporates. It is saline, and concentrations of minerals such as cadmium and arsenic in the water means that it is not particularly safe to drink.

It normally measures some 90km by 32km, but during dry periods, the water levels can fall significantly, and in 1994 it dried up completely.

Answer: El Dorado

Lake Guatavita is a small, circular lake about 35 miles from Colombia's capital city, Bogota. The local Muisca people had a ritual in which their leader, or Zipa, was coated in gold dust before diving into the lake from a raft made of rushes. Offerings of gold and other precious objects were then thrown into the lake. Sixteenth-century Spanish conquistadors named the Zipa "El Dorado", "the Golden One" and gave rise to the legend that the lake was filled with huge quantities of gold. Attempts since then to drain or dredge the lake have yielded a few objects of interest, but in the 1960s the Colombian Government made the lake a protected area, making any future attempts illegal.

Answer: Antonio de Viedma, the first European to see it

Lake Viedma is a glacial lake in the southern area of Patagonia, and is fed by melt-water from the Viedma Glacier. At some 50 miles long it is one of the largest glacially-formed lakes in the world. The Spanish explorer Antonio de Viedma (1737-1809) organised a number of expeditions in and around the Andes, and in 1783 he became the first European to visit the lake that now bears his name.

Answer: Reputedly home to a monster

The Lake Tota monster is apparently something like a gigantic black snake. The Loch Ness monster (known affectionately as Nessie) is said to be more like a prehistoric plesiosaur. One thing both creatures have in common is that no proof has so far been produced as to their existence - although to be fair it is impossible to disprove it either. Both are also undoubtedly beneficial to the local tourist trade.

Answer: Lago O'Higgins

Lago O'Higgins/San Martin is the deepest lake in South America, going down to over 2700 feet at its point of maximum depth. Both of its names are derived from national military heroes. The Chilean Bernardo O'Higgins (whose ancestors came from Ireland) and Argentinian José de San Martín each played an important role in South America's fight for independence from Spain in the nineteenth century, in both their native countries and elsewhere.

Answer: Lago Junin

Chinchayqucha is the largest lake that lies completely within Peru, and lies mostly in the Junín Province, itself part of the Junín Region. The town of Junin itself can be found nearby. The lake is popular with birdwatchers, in particular because of two rare species that can be seen there; the Junin rail and the Junin flightless grebe. Sadly, contamination as a result of local mining has led to the lake becoming badly polluted.

Answer: Atlantic Ocean

Brazil's entire 4,650-mile coastline is on the Atlantic Ocean. At 174 miles long, Lagoa dos Patos is the largest lagoon in Brazil, and is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a sandbar roughly five miles wide.

The origin of its name is disputed. It is sometimes claimed that it was named after an incident in which a group of settlers asked the Spanish King to give them the lagoon to breed ducks, without letting on that it was somewhat larger than most duck-ponds. However, the less fanciful explanation is that it is named after a local tribe, whose name just happened to be similar to the Spanish "pato" or "duck".

Answer: Lightning storms

The phenomenon is known as the Catatumbo Lightning, and can be seen around the mouth of the Catatumbo River at the point where it joins Lake Maracaibo. Spectacular lightning storms occur on around 150 days in the year, sometimes lasting all night. The effect is believed to be caused by winds blowing across the lake and surrounding swamps, collecting moisture and generating electrical charges, which are then discharged when the air comes up against the foothills of the Perija mountains.

Answer: Minerals in the water

The lake water contains a suspension of various minerals, including lead, calcium, sulphur and arsenic, which combine to give the waters a distinctive green tinge. They also mean that it rarely if ever freezes, despite the temperature often dropping to minus 20 degrees centigrade. The picture was taken from the slopes of Licancabur, an inactive volcano near the lake.

Answer: Bolivia and Peru

Located at 12,507 feet above sea level, Lake Titicaca is also often cited as the "highest navigable lake in the world", although this tends to depend on how one defines the world "navigable". It is certainly the highest large lake to operate commercial craft, with vessels of more than 2,000 tons successfully using it.

As to whether or not it is the largest South American lake, Lake Maracaibo certainly has a greater surface area (some 5000 square miles), but technically it is a bay rather than a lake, since it connects directly with the sea (albeit by a rather narrow channel).