In this lake you can not swim. It is not good for fishing. But on the Pitch Lake can walk. This is one of the most amazing lakes of our planet is situated on the island of Trinidad. It consists of ... asphalt. Moreover, high quality asphalt. They pave the islanders, and not only them. For example, one of the most symbolically laden roads of the world - Pall Mal alley in London, which leads to Buckingham, Palace lined natural asphalt from Pitch Lake.
Lake Pitch Lake, which lies near the village of La Brea, a small: its area of about forty acres. Depth, however, is impressive - more than eighty meters. Or on any other lake of course, it's not like: it is a pit filled with semi-black mass. Hundreds of tons of natural asphalt scoop of Pitch Lake every year, but its level is not reduced: underground bituminous "factory" works well, filling that takes people.
The lake's surface elastic and buttery, if you try to "scoop up" his "water", it will pull strands of thick tar. This lake is anything but static: it is a life, however, is not similar to life in the other lakes. In the depths of the Pitch Lake is always something going on and bubbling.
And on the surface slowly diverge from the center to the coast strange thick waves, a new chunk of tar rises from the depths. Or is it suddenly starts to boil and bubble: so rise to the surface from the depths of sulfur gases.
The lake is known for a long time. Even Walter Raleigh, English explorer and organizer pirate expeditions XVI century, used to cover the local asphalt body of his ship and the satisfaction that he is better than the resin, for not melt in the sun.
Asphalt lake view so dense that it may well be used for its intended purpose - to walk on it, and even ride. The filling of the lake is a non-Newtonian fluid, ie liquid tight with sharp loads, but if the load is mild, then the mass of asphalt and will also be soft. So do not be carried away - it can subtly absorb, say, the beast, naively wandered on his shaky ground. When extracted from the asphalt Pitch Lake, found in the depths of his most bone once ingested lake dinosaurs.
How is it possible such a strange phenomenon - a lake of liquid asphalt? It turns out that the depression depth of about 80 meters, once the crater of a volcano, and is now connected with his muzzle. And oil, slowly rising to the surface, losing the volatile substances. And then, reacting with organic matter, different ways to get the "water" of the lake, becomes that matter, which is so profitable and convenient to cover the road.
Asphalt lakes, which are the product of weathering of accumulated oil, also known in California, in the Red Sea, in Turkmenistan on about. Cheleken and elsewhere. On about. Sakhalin are several asphalt lakes, one of which has an area of about 3 hectares.
These asphalt lakes were known long ago, and the asphalt was used for construction work. The city of Babylon in the VI-VII century BC, was surrounded by a wall, the construction of which is as a cementing material used asphalt produced in the Red Sea area. Found that even a few thousand years before our era, the asphalt used in India for the device pool as the asphalt base and walls are impermeable to water basins.
Ironically, the lake is a tiny island, which even grow frail tree. Apparently, in the pockets between the layers of bitumen accumulated over the years that has become over time the soil is able to give life to plants, even in such a strange, seemingly uninhabitable place.
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