Ranco Lake ( es, Lago Ranco) is located in

Ranco Province El Ranco Province ( es, link=no, Provincia del Ranco) is one of two provinces of the southern Chilean region of Los Ríos. It is named after Ranco Lake shared by the communes (''comunas'') of Futrono and Lago Ranco. The lake is drained by ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

. It is the largest lake of

Los Ríos Region The Los Ríos Region (Spanish: ''Región de Los Ríos'', , ''Region of the Rivers'') is one of Chile's 16 regions, the country's first-order administrative divisions. Its capital is Valdivia. It began to operate as a region on October 2, 200 ...

and the fourth largest in Chile. Administratively Ranco Lake is split into three communes; La Unión,

Futrono Futrono (from the Mapudungun: ''Futronhue'', meaning "place of smoke") is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Futrono. It is located in Ranco Province in Los Ríos Region, on the northwest shore of Ranco Lake ...

and Lago Ranco. The lake hosts a series of islands, of which

Huapi Island Guapi or Huapi (Mapudungun for island) is an island in Ranco Lake, Zona Sur, southern Chile. Administratively it belongs to the commune of Futrono in Los Ríos Region. Islands of Los Ríos Region Lake islands of Chile {{LosRíos-geo-stub ...

is the largest. Illeifa Island is owned by the affluent

Edwards family The Edwards family of Chile is of Welsh origin. They became financially and politically influential during the 19th century. They have played and still play a significant role in Chilean politics, especially as owners of its most influential new ...

. The western half of the lake is roughly circular while the eastern part features deep embayments. Geographically the lake lies in the Andean

precordillera Precordillera is a Spanish geographical term for hills and mountains lying before a greater range, foothills. The term is derived from ''cordillera'' (mountain range)—literally "pre-mountain range"—and applied usually to the Andes. Some places ...

, the zone between the

Chilean Central Valley The Central Valley ( es, Valle Central), Intermediate Depression, or Longitudinal Valley is the depression between the Chilean Coastal Range and the Andes Mountains. The Chilean Central Valley extends from the border with Peru to Puerto Montt in ...

and the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. The lake difers from other large lakes north and south of it by lacking a clearly visible large volcano in its surroundings. During the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

the lake depression was connected to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

as an embayment of it. During this period a series of marine fossil bearing sediments known as '' Estratos de Lago Ranco'' were deposited in the lake area. During the quaternary glaciations the lake depression was covered by a large glacier lobe of the Patagonian Ice Sheet which left semicircular

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris ( regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice sh ...

s around the lake's western shore. SRTM-W74

References

External links

* Ranco Lakes of Los Ríos Region {{LosRíos-geo-stub