Primary outflows Bueno River Surface area 410 km (160 sq mi) Islands Huapi Island Area 410 km² Outflow location Bueno River | Basin countries Chile Max. depth 199 m (653 ft) Surface elevation 70 m Island Guapi Island | |
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Primary inflows Cities Futrono, Lago Ranco, Llifén, Puerto Nuevo, Chile Inflow source Calcurrupe River, Nilahue River, Caunahue River | ||
Ranco Lake (Spanish: Lago Ranco) is located in Ranco Province of Chile. It is the largest lake of Los Ríos Region and the fourth largest in Chile. Administratively Ranco Lake is split into three communes; La Unión, Futrono and Lago Ranco. The lake hosts a series of islands, of which Huapi Island is the largest. The western half of the lake is roughly circular while the eastern part features deep embayments. Geographically the lake lies in the Andean precordillera, the zone between the Chilean Central Valley and the Andes.
Map of Ranco Lake, Los R%C3%ADos Region, Chile
During the Miocene the lake depression was connected to the Pacific Ocean as an embayment of it. During this period a series of marine fossil bearing sediments known as Estratos de Lago Ranco were deposited in the lake area. During the quaternary glaciations the lake depression was covered by a large glacier lobe of the Patagonian Ice Sheet which left semicircular moraines around the lake's western shore.