January 26th, 2013 Category: Lakes

Venezuela – January 17th, 2013

Visible at the bottom left of this image is Lake Maracaibo, in Venezuela, connected to the Gulf of Venezuela via the 55 km long Tablazo Strait. Some green swirls of color on the lake are due to the growth of duckweed, a problem plaguing the lake since the early 2000s. At times, over 18% of the lake has been covered by duckweed, and although efforts to remove the plant have been underway, the plant – which can double its size every 48 hours – occupies over 130 million cubic metres of the lake.

The only way to remove the weed is to pull it out of the lake physically – no chemical or biological method has been found to treat the weed. The government has been spending $2 million monthly to clean the lake, and the state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. has created a $750 million cleanup fund. Current efforts are barely keeping up with the growth of the plant. The removal process has proven to be particularly difficult in the center of the lake where a specially equipped ship may be needed to pull the weed off the lake.

Tags: Duckweed Gulf of Venezuela Lake Maracaibo Venezuela | Comments |

January 23rd, 2013 Category: Lakes, Sediments

Venezuela and Colombia – January 6th, 2013

Sediments can be observed in the Gulf of Venezuela, a gulf of the Caribbean Sea bounded by Venezuela and Colombia. A 54 km (34 mi) strait connects it with Maracaibo Lake to the south. Here, brown sediments can be observed south of the Paraguaná Peninsula, in Venezuela (right), and streaming from the Guajira Peninsula, shared by Venezuela and Colombia, to the entrance to Maracaibo Lake.

Tags: Colombia Guajira Peninsula Gulf of Venezuela Maracaibo Lake Paraguaná Peninsula Sediments Venezuela | Comments |

December 30th, 2011 Category: Sediments

Venezuela - December 24th, 2011

Lake Maracaibo (below) is a large brackish bay in Venezuela. It is connected to the Gulf of Venezuela by Tablazo Strait (55km) at the northern end, and fed by numerous rivers, the largest being the Catatumbo. It is commonly considered a lake rather than a bay or lagoon, and at 13,210 km² it would be the largest lake in South America.

While the lake appears mostly sediment-free, tan and green sediments can be seen in the Gulf of Venezuela to the north. It is a gulf of the Caribbean Sea bounded by the Venezuelan states of Zulia and Falcón and by Guajira Department, Colombia. Also of note in the image is the city of Maracaibo, visible as a grey area on the western bank of the Tablazo Strait.

Tags: Colombia Falcón Guajira Department Gulf of Venezuela Lake Maracaibo Maracaibo Tablazo Strait Venezuela Zulia | Comments |

November 28th, 2011 Category: Lakes

Colombia and Venezuela - November 22nd, 2011

Green sediment- and algae-laden waters seep out of Maracaibo Lake below) and into the Gulf of Venezuela. The two are connected by a 54 km (34 mi) strait.

The Gulf of Venezuela is a gulf of the Caribbean Sea bounded by the Venezuelan states of Zulia and Falcón and by Guajira Department, Colombia. Located in the north of South America, it is situated between Paraguaná Peninsula (right) of the Falcón State in Venezuela and Guajira Peninsula (left) in Colombia.

Tags: Colombia Falcón Guajira Department Guajira Peninsula Gulf of Venezuela Maracaibo Lake Paraguaná Peninsula Venezuela Zulia | Comments |