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SANTIAGO - Scientists say that a lake in southern Chile that mysteriously disappeared last month developed a crack which allowed the water to drain away.
A buildup of water opened a crack in an ice wall along one side of the lake. Water flowed through the crack into a nearby fiord and from there into the sea, leaving behind a dry lakebed littered with icebergs, scientists told Chilean state television.
"It looks like it's slowly filling up with water again," said Andres Rivera, a glacier expert who headed a team which recently flew over the lake in a bid to solve the mystery.
The lake is situated in the Magallanes region in Patagonia and is fed by melt-water from glaciers. Earlier this year it had a surface area of 4-5ha. Scientists noticed it had disappeared during a routine patrol of the area in May.
- REUTERS
