Qualla: Lake Chichoj: The Lake That Swallowed Itself https://qualla.com/lake-chichoj en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:09 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Lake Chichoj: The Lake That Swallowed Itself https://qualla.com/lake-chichoj Lake Chichoj: The Lake That Swallowed Itself: Introduction https://qualla.com/lake-chichoj/ Something is wrong with Lake Chichoj, and the trouble runs deeper than the eye can see. This half-kilometer-wide body of water near San Cristobal Verapaz in Guatemala's Alta Verapaz department sits in a basin formed by the collapse of at least three sinkholes - dolines carved by the slow dissolution of gypsum deposits deep underground. An Irish Dominican friar named Thomas Gage described a lake suddenly appearing near San Cristobal in his 1648 book, though his account is known for exaggeration. More reliable Spanish Dominican records mention a cave collapse during an earthquake in 1590 that formed the eastern portion of the lake. The western half was already there, its origins stretching back to at least the 8th century. Today, from the air, what was once open water is increasingly a ring of marshland choking a shrinking blue center.

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/x/x/lake-chichoj-wp/9fxx-lake-chichoj-the-lake-that-swallowed-itself-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Lake Chichoj: The Lake That Swallowed Itself: Born from Collapse https://qualla.com/lake-chichoj/ Lake Chichoj owes its existence to geology that is still actively reshaping the landscape. The lake basin formed where at least three dolines coalesced - depressions created when gypsum dissolved at depth, leaving the ground above unsupported. Evidence of this process is visible ...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/x/x/lake-chichoj-wp/9fxx-lake-chichoj-the-lake-that-swallowed-itself-born-from-collapse.mp3 0:06 2 full Lake Chichoj: The Lake That Swallowed Itself: A Lake in Two Layers https://qualla.com/lake-chichoj/ Despite its modest size - just one kilometer long and half a kilometer wide, with a maximum depth of 32 meters - Lake Chichoj behaves like a much larger body of water. It is strongly stratified, its upper layer turbid and poorly mineralized, sitting atop a deeper layer that is fi...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/x/x/lake-chichoj-wp/9fxx-lake-chichoj-the-lake-that-swallowed-itself-a-lake-in-two-layers.mp3 0:06 3 full Lake Chichoj: The Lake That Swallowed Itself: Choking on Progress https://qualla.com/lake-chichoj/ The deterioration began in the 1950s. Deforestation, agricultural fertilizer runoff, and untreated city wastewater from San Cristobal Verapaz poured nutrients into the lake, triggering eutrophication - the suffocating overenrichment that turns clear water cloudy and living ecosys...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/x/x/lake-chichoj-wp/9fxx-lake-chichoj-the-lake-that-swallowed-itself-choking-on-progress.mp3 0:06 4 full Lake Chichoj: The Lake That Swallowed Itself: The Ground Beneath May Still Be Shifting https://qualla.com/lake-chichoj/ Lake Chichoj presents a hazard that no one has yet measured. The marshlands surrounding the lake likely sit atop sediment-filled dolines similar to those that formed the lake itself, which means the ground could resume subsiding at any time if gypsum continues dissolving at depth...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/x/x/lake-chichoj-wp/9fxx-lake-chichoj-the-lake-that-swallowed-itself-the-ground-beneath-may-still-be-shifting.mp3 0:06 5 full