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Lake Cote

Coordinates: 10°34′53″N 84°54′42″W / 10.581389°N 84.911667°W / 10.581389; -84.911667
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Lake Cote
Lake Cote is located in Costa Rica
Lake Cote
Lake Cote
Location in Costa Rica
Coordinates10°34′53″N 84°54′42″W / 10.581389°N 84.911667°W / 10.581389; -84.911667
Typecrater lake
Max. length1 km (0.62 mi)
Surface area1.983 km2 (0.766 sq mi)
Max. depth18 m (59 ft)
Surface elevation680 m (2,230 ft)

Lake Cote (Spanish: Lago Cote), originally known as Lake Cóter, is a fresh water crater lake located in the northern highlands of Costa Rica. It is currently the largest natural lake in Costa Rica at 1.98-square-kilometre (0.76 sq mi). Its depth varies between 6 and 18 meters.[1][2]

Location

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Located in Cote district, Guatuso canton, of Alajuela province, between the Arenal Volcano and Tenorio Volcano. Nearby is located the largest lake in Costa Rica, Lake Arenal, of artificial origin.[3]

Physical aspects

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It is a crater lake of Maar type with a heart-like ovoid shape and a 1 km diameter. Average depth is of 6.30m and maximum depth is 18m at the center area.

It is the natural drainage of River Cote.

Average water temperature is around 21.9 °C and 27.9 °C.

Uses

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The lake is used for tourism, subsistence fishing, hydropower electricity generation and as a conservation area. It is regarded as a sacred place by the local Maleku people.[3]

Cote UFO

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Cote UFO, 1971

On 4 September 1971, during an aerial survey by the National Geographic Institute of Costa Rica, what looks like a UFO was photographed over Lake Cote (see photo).[4]

References

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  1. ^ Haberyan, Kurt A.; Horn, Sally P.; Umaña V., Gerardo (March 2003). "Basic limnology of fifty-one lakes in Costa Rica". Revista de Biología Tropical. 51 (1): 107–122. PMID 15162686. Gale A120392501.
  2. ^ Umaña, Gerardo (5 July 2014). "Ten years of limnological monitoring of a modified natural lake in the tropics: Cote Lake, Costa Rica". Revista de Biología Tropical. 62 (2): 567–578. doi:10.15517/rbt.v62i2.8446. PMID 25102640.
  3. ^ a b Chaves, Gerardo (2 February 1997). "Cóter: Paraíso lacustre". Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  4. ^ Lewis-Krau, Gideon (30 April 2021). "How the Pentagon Started Taking U.F.O.s Seriously". The New Yorker. The New Yorker. Retrieved 6 June 2023.