The earth and its inhabitants .. . nchins measurementsthe present divide between the lake and the river stands at an altitude of 13,390feet, that is to sav, 515 above Titicaca and 1,450 above La Paz. Lakks Titicaca and Titicaca, Tin Stone, called also Lake of Puno, and formerly Lake ofChucuito from a Peruvian city on its west bank, is the largest fragment left bythe ancient inland sea. From its north-west extremity near the Peruvian town ofLampa, to the south-easternmost Bolivian inlet near Tiahuanuco, it has a totallength of 98 miles, with a mean breadth estimated at 36 miles
The earth and its inhabitants .. . nchins measurementsthe present divide between the lake and the river stands at an altitude of 13,390feet, that is to sav, 515 above Titicaca and 1,450 above La Paz. Lakks Titicaca and Titicaca, Tin Stone, called also Lake of Puno, and formerly Lake ofChucuito from a Peruvian city on its west bank, is the largest fragment left bythe ancient inland sea. From its north-west extremity near the Peruvian town ofLampa, to the south-easternmost Bolivian inlet near Tiahuanuco, it has a totallength of 98 miles, with a mean breadth estimated at 36 miles. The southern LAEE TITICACA. 361 basin, separated from Titicaca proper by the Strait of Tiquina, takes the name ofUnimarca or Guinimarca, that is, Dried Lake, as Billinghurst explains theword. The two sections have a joint area of 3,300 square miles, with an extremedepth of 700 feet. As the deepest abysses on the oceanic seaboard generally occur at the foot of the Fig. 139.—Old Lake of the Boltvian Plateau. Scale 1 : 7,000, 15 Old lake. Depths. Oto 500Fathoms. 60fl FiVthomsand upwards. 124 Miles. loftiest mountains, here also the greatest depths are dominated by the snowy peaksof lUampu. While the annual change of level due to evaporation and the rainsamounts to about 4 feet, a slight absolute subsidence seems to have taken place, 3G2 SOUTH AMERICA—THE ANDES REGIONS. even within the historic period. Tluis five islets near Puno arc now connectedwith the mainland, and the exposed surface is strewn with freshwater shells. Thewest coast which slopes very gently, is studded with lagoons and swamps traversedby causeways dating from pre-Columbian times. In fact, the lake is so shallowalong the western margin tliat a furtljer subsidence even of 10 feet would sufficeto reduce its whole area by at least one-fifth.* Viewed as a whole the lake would present the form of an elongated oval butfor a (;liain of hills revealed by a line of emerged summits, and disposed in thedirection
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectgeography, bookyear18
