Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 2 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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When We Reflect On The Vast
Depths Of All The Lakes Of Switzerland, Which, Notwithstanding Their
Position In High Valleys, Almost Reach The Level Of The Mediterranean,
It Appears Surprising That Greater Cavities Are Not Found At The
Bottom Of The Lake Of Valencia, Which Is Also An Alpine Lake.
The
deepest places are between the rocky island of Burro and the point of
Cana Fistula, and opposite the high mountains of Mariara.
But in
general the southern part of the lake is deeper than the northern: nor
must we forget that, if all the shores be now low, the southern part
of the basin is the nearest to a chain of mountains with abrupt
declivities; and we know that even the sea is generally deepest where
the coast is elevated, rocky, or perpendicular.
The temperature of the lake at the surface during my abode in the
valleys of Aragua, in the month of February, was constantly from 23 to
23.7 degrees, consequently a little below the mean temperature of the
air. This may be from the effect of evaporation, which carries off
caloric from the air and the water; or because a great mass of water
does not follow with an equal rapidity the changes in the temperature
of the atmosphere, and the lake receives streams which rise from
several cold springs in the neighbouring mountains. I have to regret
that, notwithstanding its small depth, I could not determine the
temperature of the water at thirty or forty fathoms.
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