The Amazing rock Formation-Marble caves, Patagonia in Chile
The Marble Caves Chile
Chile’s Marble Caves is one of the most extraordinary places to visit in South America. It is located on General Carrera Lake in southern Chile, is the biggest lake in Chile and it spans across from Chile into Argentina. But the Marble Caves are accessible from the Chile side so visitors need to travel into Chile through Chile Chico city. The magnificent Cuevas de Mármol or Marble caves Formed by 6,000 years of waves actions up against calcium carbonate (Marble). The smooth, swirling blues of the cavern walls are a reflection of the lake’s azure waters, which change in intensity and hue, depending on water levels and time of year. Columns, tunnel systems With colorful unique patterns of turquoise blue water, Marble Caves attract visitors from all over the world.
The Lake
General Carrera Lake (Chilean side) or Lake Buenos Aires (Argentine side) is a lake located in Patagonia and shared by Argentina and Chile. Both names are internationally accepted. The closest town to the Marble Caves in Puerto Rio Tranquilo in southern Chile. Puerto Rio Tranquilo is a small town and the majority of the businesses here cater to Marble Cave visitors.
The lake total has a surface area of 1,850 km², making it the biggest lake in Chile, and the fourth largest in Argentina. In its western basin, Lake General Carrera has a 586 m maximum depth. The lake is of glacial origin and is surrounded by the Andes mountain range. The lake drains to the Pacific Ocean on the west through the Baker River. A ferry facility operates between Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez and Chile Chico in the Chilean sector of the lake. The lake is also known as a trout and salmon fishing destination.
Geotourist can Sail among shining marble walls polished for the water is something truly unforgettable. These calcium carbonate formations were declared Sanctuary of the Nature (Santuario de la Naturaleza). The General Carrera Lake is recharged by rivers coming from several glaciers of Patagonian Andes.
How Marble Caves Forms
Marble caves formed in a massive marble peninsula, eroded by the lake. Marble is slightly soluble in water. Thus, when the lake reached its present level, the process of the solution started. The marble dissolved faster at the water surface small seeps through the cracks in the marble made these fractures wider and waves washed away the dissolved material. after a thousand years’ time, the marble and blue water of the lake formed a place of bewildering beauty with countless caves, mazes, columns, and tunnels.
Larger imposing structures are Marble Cathedral and Marble Chapel. Marble Cathedral (Catedral de Mármol) is a small island on the peninsula but Marble Chapel (Capilla de Mármol) is a small marble exposure closer to the northern coast. Geotourist can stop his boat at one such island and take a walk, under the island, through the mazes and tunnels.
This whole island section of the General Carrera Lakeshore is full of beauty, and if tourists have little time, they can visit different caves from nearby villages. These often require slightly longer boat trips and bumpy dirt roads. The whole region is full of sweeping valleys, crashing glaciers, verdant forests, turquoise lakes, and river torrents.
The Marble Caves are an unmissable feature of this part of the area. Apart from Marble caves, people can combine a visit to nearby San Rafael Glacier, a beautiful wall of ice hidden right in the middle of the rainforest. You can also travel from Puerto Tranquilo to the Exploradores Glacier to hike to a viewpoint or ice hike on the glacier itself.
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Changing of color The Marble Caves
The water level of the lake is constantly changing, This makes each visit to the caves unique. During spring, the water level of the lake is at its lowest point. The lake gets its water from the nearby glaciers, hence they will not have melted at this time. The walls of the caves constantly change to different shades of blue due to the amount of light entering the cave. They change the colors from softer colors to navy blue. When the glaciers melt, the colors change to cobalt blue. Some other times the water will reflect white or pink colors.
When to visit Marble caves
Marble caves are Located far from any road, the caves are accessible only by boat. The best time of the year to visit the Marble Caves is roughly between September and February when the ice melts feeding the lake and the color of the water is particularly enchanting turquoise. The best time to take a boat tour is early morning to catch the right lighting for great pictures. There are ferries from Chile Chico that will take you to and through the Marble cave and its tunnels. The caves are based on a lake, and the only way to reach them is by ferry.
