Overview[edit]

The lake is located at the northern end of the endorheic Altiplano basin high in
the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia. The western part of the lake lies
within the Puno Region of Peru, and the eastern side is located in the Bolivian La
Paz Department.

The lake is composed of two nearly separate sub-basins connected by the Strait of
Tiquina, which is 800 m (2,620 ft) across at the narrowest point. The larger sub-
basin, Lago Grande (also called Lago Chucuito), has a mean depth of 135 m (443 ft)
and a maximum depth of 284 m (932 ft). The smaller sub-basin, Wiaymarka (also
called Lago Pequeo, "little lake"), has a mean depth of 9 m (30 ft) and a maximum
depth of 40 m (131 ft).[8] The overall average depth of the lake is 107 m (351 ft).
[1]

Map of Lake Titicaca

Five major river systems feed into Lake Titicaca.[9] In order of their relative
flow volumes these are Ramis, Coata, Ilave, Huancan, and Suchez.[2] More than
twenty other smaller streams empty into Titicaca. The lake has 41 islands, some of
which are densely populated.

Having only a single season of free circulation, the lake is monomictic,[10][11]

and water passes through Lago Huiaimarca and flows out the single outlet at the
Ro Desaguadero,[12] which then flows south through Bolivia to Lake Poop. This
only accounts for about 10% of the lake's water balance. Evapotranspiration, caused
by strong winds and intense sunlight at high altitude, balances the remaining 90%
of the water loss. It is nearly a closed lake.[2][8][13]

Since 2000 Lake Titicaca has experienced constantly receding water levels. Between
April and November 2009 alone the water level dropped by 81 cm (32 in), reaching
the lowest level since 1949. This drop is caused by shortened rainy seasons and the
melting of glaciers feeding the tributaries of the lake.[14][15] Water pollution is
also an increasing concern because cities in the Titicaca watershed grow, sometimes
outpacing solid waste and sewage treatment infrastructure.[16] According to the
Global Nature Fund (GNF), Titicaca's biodiversity is threatened by water pollution
and the introduction of new species by humans.[17] Already in 2012, the GNF
nominated the lake "Threatened Lake of the Year".[18]

Temperature[edit]
The cold sources and winds over the lake give it an average surface temperature of
10 to 14 C (50 to 57 F). In the winter (June September), mixing occurs with the
deeper waters, which are always between 10 to 11 C (50 to 52 F).[19]

Name[edit]

A view of Lake Titicaca taken from the city of Puno

A reed boat on Lake Titicaca

Neither the protohistoric nor prehistoric name for Lake Titicaca is currently
known. Given the various Native American groups that occupied the Lake Titicaca
region, it is likely that it lacked a single, commonly accepted name in prehistoric
times and at the time the Spaniards arrived.[20]

The terms titi and caca can be translated in multiple ways. In Aymara, titi can be
translated as either puma, lead, or a heavy metal. The word caca (kaka) can be
translated as white or gray hairs of the head and the term kaka can be translated
as either crack or fissure or, alternatively, comb of a bird.[20] According to
Weston La Barre, the Aymara considered in 1948 that the proper name of the lake is
titiqaqa, which means gray discolored, lead-colored puma. This phrase refers to
the sacred carved rock found on the Island of the Sun.[21] In addition to names
including the term titi and/or caca, Lake Titicaca was also known as Chuquivitu in
the sixteenth century. This name can be loosely translated as lance point. This
name survives in modern usage in which the large lake is occasionally referred to
as Lago Chucuito.[20]

Stanish argues that the logical explanation for the origin of the name Titicaca is
a corruption of the term thakhsi cala, which is the fifteenth- to sixteenth-century
name of the sacred rock on the Island of the Sun.[22] Given the lack of a common
name for Lake Titicaca in the sixteenth century, it is argued that the Spaniards
used the name of the site of the most important indigenous shrine in the region,
thakhsi cala on the Island of the Sun, as the name for the lake. In time and with
usage, this name developed into Titicaca.[20]

Locally, the lake goes by several names. The small lake to the south is called
Huiamarca. The large lake also is occasionally referred to as Lago Mayor, and the
small lake as Lago Menor.[20] In addition, the southeast quarter of the lake is
separate from the main body (connected only by the Strait of Tiquina), and the
Bolivians call it Lago Huiaymarca (also Wiay Marka, which in Aymara means The
Eternal City) and the larger part Lago Chucuito. In Peru, these smaller and larger
parts are referred to as Lago Pequeo and Lago Grande, respectively.[8]

Ecology[edit]

There are two Telmatobius species in the lake: The smaller, more coastal marbled
water frog (pictured, at Isla del Sol) and the larger, more deep-water Titicaca
water frog.[23]
Lake Titicaca is home to more than 530 aquatic species.[24]

The lake holds large populations of water birds and was designated as a Ramsar Site
on August 26, 1998. Several threatened species such as the huge Titicaca water frog
and the flightless Titicaca grebe are largely or entirely restricted to the lake,
[23][25] and the Titicaca orestias has likely become extinct (last seen in 1938)
due to competition and predation by the introduced rainbow trout and the silverside
Odontesthes bonariensis.[26] In addition to the Titicaca orestias, native fish
species in the lake's basin are other species of Orestias, and the catfish
Trichomycterus dispar, T. rivulatus and Astroblepus stuebeli (the last species not
in the lake itself, but in associated ecosystems).[27] The many Orestias species in
Lake Titicaca differ significantly in both habitat preference[28] and feeding
behavior.[29] About 90% of the fish species in the basin are endemic,[27] including
23 species of Orestias that only are found in the lake.[30] In addition to the
threatened Titicaca grebe, some of the birds associated with water at Titicaca are
the white-tufted grebe, Puna ibis, Chilean flamingo, Andean gull, Andean lapwing,
white-backed stilt, greater yellowlegs, snowy egret, black-crowned night-heron,
Andean coot, common gallinule, plumbeous rail, various ducks, wren-like rushbird,
many-colored rush-tyrant and yellow-winged blackbird.[25]

Andean coot among totora reeds

Titicaca is home to 24 described species of freshwater snails (15 endemics,
including several tiny Heleobia)[24][31] and less than half a dozen bivalves (all
in family Sphaeriidae), but in general these are very poorly known and their
taxonomy is in need of a review.[32] The lake also has an endemic species flock of
amphipods consisting of 11 Hyalella (an additional Titicaca Hyalella species is
non-endemic).[33]

Reeds and other aquatic vegetation is widespread in Lake Titicaca. Totora reeds
grow in water shallower than 3 m (9.8 ft), less frequently to 5.5 m (18 ft), but
macrophytes, notably Chara and Potamogeton, occur down to 10 m (33 ft).[34] In
sheltered shallow waters, such as the harbour of Puno, Azolla, Elodea, Lemna and
Myriophyllum are common.[34]

Geology[edit]