Laguna Amarga
Chile, South America
Laguna Amarga in the Patagonia region of Southern Chile lies just outside of the famous Torres del Paine National Park. This lake is known for its high alkalinity and mirror-like mountain reflections of the granite mountains and towers. It has an extreme environment featuring hypersaline, strongly alkaline waters with a pH ranging from 8.9 to 9.1+. The name "Amarga" translates to "bitter" in Spanish, describing the harsh taste caused by high concentrations of dissolved salts, sodium, carbonate, and magnesium that build up due to intense evaporation. Despite these punishing chemical conditions, the lagoon sustains a specialized food web composed of extremophilic organisms.
It is interesting that winter is significantly colder in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere. The Northern Hemisphere has a much larger landmass (about 68% land vs. 31% water), and land heats and cools much faster than water. Thus, we have more extreme temperature swings in the north. Large continents like North America and Asia trap and generate massive pools of bitterly cold air during polar tilts, making our winters much colder. The Southern Hemisphere is roughly 81% ocean and water stores heat longer, so winter temperatures are much milder and more stable relative to the north.
Photo © copyright by Dr. Edward Mikol.
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