tell the water you love it
La Brea Pitch Lake, Brighton, Trinidad & Tobago
The Pitch Lake is the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world, estimated to contain 10 million tons. It was created in relation to the subduction of tectonic plates and it is believed that the lake is at the intersection of two faults, which allows oil from a deep deposit to be forced up. The lighter elements in the oil evaporate under the hot tropical sun, leaving behind the heavier asphalt. Bacterial action on the asphalt at low pressures creates petroleum in asphalt. Novel species of bacterial communities have been found along with fungal life forms which can grow on the available asphaltenes as a sole carbon and energy source. Over many centuries, the bones of trapped animals have been preserved and resurfaced, leading to mythical notions of this and other natural tar pits.