Lake Peach Lake - the most unusual in the world

Probably, the strangest lake on the globe, ruining all the usual ideas about water bodies, is on the island of Trinidad. You can not swim in it, but on its surface walk, as on the sidewalk, as it is filled with liquid asphalt.

The history of the discovery of the natural phenomenon

The amazing Lake Peach Lake opened the British favorite of Queen Elizabeth I at the end of the XVI century while searching for the untold wealth of the legendary country of Eldorado. An inveterate traveler and a well-known public figure stumbled upon a strange black spot, standing out against the background of bright tropical greens.

From the huge pit of 46 hectares flowed asphalt streams of excellent quality, not melting under the hot sun, like pitch. Namely, it was impregnated before that time with the wooden lining of the ships.

After discovering the natural phenomenon, a black viscous mass is supplied to Britain, but commercial production on an industrial scale begins only in 1888. It is known that thanks to this resin all the central streets of the Honorable England were asphalt paved, and in the city of Washington the road surface stood idle for 11 years in perfect condition, having glorified the whole bitumen of the Trinidad lake to the whole world. Experts consider the asphalt lake Peach Lake to be the largest commercial deposit. Canoe local Indians and to this day are not afraid of water, as the properties of bitumen island population knows a very long time.

The myth of the appearance of an unusual lake

The oldest legend, passed from generation to generation, says that at one time on this place there was no oily pond. The Indians living here arranged a grand feast about their victory over the enemy and fried the sacred birds - hummingbirds.

It has long been a small bird, in which, according to legend, the deceased souls of ancestors settled, were treated with great reverence. Intoxicated Indians completely forgot about this, for which they brutally paid: the gods were angry with them, and the village was swallowed up by a dark, viscous abyss, left on the spot of the feast.

The version of scientists

Scientists who studied the natural attraction, discovered the secret of the appearance of bitumen. It turns out that Lake Peach Lake, 80 meters deep, was once a volcanic crater, now liquid oil spills out of its depression , spreading over a vast territory and thickening to a viscous state. Dense bitumen is mixed with rocks, forming asphalt.

It's amazing that small bushes break through from a dark surface, gloomy looking. Scientists put forward a version according to which between layers of asphalt a certain substance resembling the soil accumulates. It is she who gives life to puny plants in such a strange place.

A curious phenomenon for researchers

The oily Lake Peach-Lake no one will call fixed, thick waves diverge with a new portion of liquid asphalt, lifted from the depths. Sometimes on a black elastic surface appear small bubbles - so come out the sulfur gases. It is believed that the stocks of liquid asphalt will last for another 400 years with annual production of several tens of thousands of tons.

On the warm surface of the bitumen pond, the Indians of Lake Peach Lake are basking in the season of strong tropical rains. During studies of coastal areas, mastodons found to be trapped in an oily trap were found, and the skeleton of a sloth that lived about 2 million years ago.

Covering a lot of secrets, Lake Peach Lake attracts the attention of entire groups of scientists with its unique ability to keep in an excellent state the objects absorbed many centuries ago. Surprisingly, the processes that are going on inside make it possible to raise everything from the very bottom to the surface that has been bogged down here over the past millennia.

The island's indigenous people have known for a long time about the unique properties of liquid asphalt, that's why the canoe of the Indians of Lake Peach Lake are impregnated with moisture-proof material.

Asphalt pond, which supplies material to 50 countries of the world, enjoys fame from visiting tourists hurrying to be like a natural phenomenon. The local population warns that it is impossible to stand on a wavering surface for a long time - you can get bogged down and sink to the very bottom. Therefore, special care is needed when visiting an ancient lake formed naturally.