How was the environment of Lake Titicaca formed?

Lake Titicaca has an area of ??8,330 square kilometers, an altitude of 3,812 meters, an average water depth of 100 meters, and the deepest point can reach 256 meters. It is the highest and largest freshwater lake in South America and the largest freshwater lake in the world above 2,000 meters above sea level. It is located on the Coy?o Plateau at the junction of Bolivia and Peru. 2/5 of it is in Peru and 3/5 is in Bolivia. It is called the "Pearl of the Plateau".

Lake Titicaca is located in a vast basin (an area of ??approximately 58,000 square kilometers) in the Andes Mountains, forming a large part of the Altiplano Plateau in the northern Andes Mountains. In the snow-covered Real Mountains on the northeastern shore of the lake (in Bolivia), there is the highest peak in the Andes, reaching a height of more than 6,400 meters.

The water level of the lake changes seasonally and periodically over several years. Water levels rise during the rainy season and normally fall during the dry months of winter. It used to be thought that Lake Titicaca was slowly drying up, but recent research seems to refute this idea, pointing out that its water levels rise and fall in cycles.

The water of Lake Titicaca is clear and slightly salty, with a salinity of 5.2% to 5.5%. The average temperature of the water surface is 14°C; the water temperature gradually decreases from the 20-meter thermocline downward, and the bottom temperature is 11°C. The main fish species in the lake include two species of killifish and one species of catfish. In 1939 and later, trout were introduced. There is also a large frog that lives in the shallower areas of the lake, and the largest one is nearly 1 foot long.

Many ruins on the lakeshore and islands prove that the earliest civilization in America once existed here. The main ruins are at Tiwanaku, in Bolivia, at the southern end of the lake. The temple ruins on Titicaca Island, according to Inca legend, are the landing places where Manco Capac and Mama Olliu, the founders of the Inca dynasty, were sent to the earth by the sun god.

Lake Titicaca is one of the birthplaces of South American Indian culture. The Indians call it a sacred lake. According to legend, Ikaka, the daughter of the Water God, fell in love with the young sailor Tito. When the Water God found out, he was furious and drowned Tito. After Tito died, it turned into a hill, and Ikaka turned into a vast Lake of Tears. The Indians combined their names and called them "Lake Titicaca".

The real charm of Lake Titicaca lies in its unique natural and human resources. The clear and thin air at an altitude of more than 3,800 meters, the sunlight that is closer to the true color of the sun, and the lake water that is bluer than the sky. Here, colonial culture and Indian culture are wonderfully integrated, forming the unique regional culture of the area. The locals still use the Indian language and maintain the Indian life traditions, but all of them are devout Catholics. The Uros Castaway Island is the most popular tourist attraction on Lake Titicaca. The Uros are a branch of the Aymara Indian tribe. As a small tribe, they fled to the lake to avoid the invasion of the Inca and other empires. They chose "reed" to live in, ate asparagus, and built huge floating islands out of reed roots. On the island, reeds were used to build houses, boats, and all the necessities of life. They were content with what they had and lived in the small world of Drifting Island for generations, teaching the craft of making things with reeds orally. Today, hundreds of people still live on these castaway islands. There are also schools, post offices and shops on the largest drifting island.

The Aymara people who live in the Titicaca Basin still use the pre-Inca method of farming on terraces. They grew barley, quinoa (a type of amaranth that produces small grains), and potatoes introduced from the Altiplano. Near Lake Titicaca is the highest cultivated land in the world - a barley field at an altitude of 4,700 meters. At this altitude, the grains never mature, but the stalks are used as feed for llamas and alpacas. Llamas and alpacas are relatives of the camel in the Americas. The Indians used them as draft animals and as meat, and their hair was used to keep them warm. The lakeside plain is dotted with numerous pre-Columbian raised terraces and ditches (now abandoned) that were used to improve drainage and increase the area's agricultural productivity. This ancient system of cultivation has been revived in some areas of Peru and Bolivia.

In 1862, the first ship to sail on the lake was pre-made in England, and then brought to Lake Titicaca one by one on mules. There are now regular flights between Puno on the Peruvian lakeshore and the small port of Guaqui in Bolivia. Guaqui is connected to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, by a narrow-gauge railway. There is also a railway (one of the highest railways in the world) from Puno to Arequipa and the Pacific Coast, giving the landlocked country of Bolivia an important connection to the ocean. Lake Titicaca is open to navigation all year round and is an important transportation route connecting Peru and Bolivia.

Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world. There are 51 islands in the lake, including Sun Island and Moon Island, most of which are inhabited. The largest island, Titicaca Island, has temple ruins from the Inca era. It was regarded as a holy place during the Inca era, and the temples and palaces of the past are still preserved. Remains. The Sun Island and Moon Island located in Bolivia dot the lake. The rocks on the two islands are brown and purple, and the lake and island colors complement each other and are particularly beautiful. There are rich Indian relics on the two islands. There are ruins of ancient cities dating back to BC, exquisite and spectacular palaces, temples, pyramids and other stone buildings on Moon Island. There is a newly built tourist hotel on Esteves Island in Peru, where you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of the lake and mountains, which is quite fun.

There are 25 rivers flowing into Lake Titicaca, and only one, Desaguadero River, flows out from the lake to Lake Polo, another inland salt water lake, taking only 5% of the water into the lake. The remaining water is consumed mainly by massive evaporation, but Lake Titicaca remains a low-salinity freshwater lake, with most of the salt carried away by the Desaguadero River.

The lake basin extends for 193 kilometers from northwest to southeast, and the maximum width of the lake is 80 kilometers. There is a peninsula extending into the lake in the southeast, dividing the lake into two parts, connected through the Tichina Gorge The larger part in the northwest is called Lake Chuquito by Bolivians and the Great Lake by Peruvians; the smaller part in the southeast is called Lake Vi?amarca by Bolivians and Lake Picno by Peruvians. The water flows into Germany from the small lake. The Saguadero River flows into Lake Pópo.

Lake Titicaca is an inland lake, but unlike many saltwater lakes on mountains and plateaus in the world, it is a freshwater lake. It's high in altitude but not freezing, inland but not salty. This is because the lake is surrounded by snow peaks, and the lake water is constantly replenished by melted water from mountain ice and snow, so the lake water is not salty; and because the lake is located in the shield of the Andes Mountains, the tall Andes Mountains block the invasion of cold air, so the lake water is not salty. It doesn't freeze all year round. The lakeshore is winding and winding, forming many peninsulas and bays. The lakeside is rich in water and grass, and there are many fish and shrimps in the lake.

There are many towns around Lake Titicaca, and there are ancient Indian cultural sites in the towns, the most famous of which is the Tiahuanaco cultural site. The Indians on the lakeshore have used guano fertilizer to grow corn, potatoes and other crops since ancient times. They have reached very high levels in sculpture, architecture, metallurgy, and pottery. The Lake Titicaca area is the origin of potato cultivation by Indians. Surrounded by mountains, the peaks are covered with snow all year round, the lakes and mountains are beautiful, and the scenery is very beautiful, making it a tourist destination.

The Tiahuaraco Cultural Site is located 21 kilometers southeast of Lake Titicaca, at an altitude of about 4,000 meters. There you can see many huge stone statues and pillars, the most famous of which is the stone statue of the rain god Vitikocha. There is also the world-famous Puerta del Sol, which is a door made of a huge stone with a human-shaped bas-relief surrounded by the sun's rays. Next to the Puerta del Sol, there is a peculiar building, which is a rectangular platform made of stone, 118 meters long and 112 meters wide. It is called "Calasasea" in the Indian Quechua language. According to archaeologists' analysis, it may be an altar used by the ancient Inca Empire to worship the sun god. This is a collection of art from the Lake Titicaca region.