Pitch Lake - wikipedia Pitch Lake Map showing location of the Pitch Lake Pitch Lake, 2016 Generalized geologic map of Trinidad. The Los Bajos wrench fault cuts across the southwest portion of the island. Stratigraphic Column for Trinidad North - South Cross Section of the Forest Reserve Field The Pitch Lake is the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world, estimated to contain 10 million tons. It is located in La Brea in southwest Trinidad, within the Siparia Regional Corporation. The lake covers about 100 acres and is reported to be 250 feet deep. Pitch Lake is a popular tourist attraction, that includes a small museum, from where official tourguides can show you the lake. The lake is mined for asphalt by Lake Asphalt of Trinidad and Tobago. Contents 1 History 2 Microbiology 3 Geology 4 See also 5 References 6 External links History The Pitch Lake has fascinated Western explorers and scientists, as well as attracting tourists, since its re-discovery by Sir Walter Raleigh in his expedition there in 1595. ( The native Indians knew about it and showed it to him. ) Raleigh himself found immediate use for the asphalt to caulk his ship. He referred to the pitch as `` most excellent... It melteth not with the sun as the pitch of Norway ''. Since its re-discovery, there have been numerous research investigations into the use and chemical composition of this material. There have been countless theories, postulations, and conclusions as to the size, source, and origin of the asphalt. In 1887, Amzi Barber, an American businessman known as `` The Asphalt King '', secured a 42 - year monopoly concession from the British Government for the Pitch Lake for his company, Barber Asphalt Paving Co. It was from this source that many of the first asphalt roads of New York City, Washington D.C., and other Eastern U.S. cities were paved. Microbiology Evidence of an active microbiological ecosystem have been reported. Archaeal and bacterial communities co-exist, with novel species being discovered from Pitch Lake samples. Besides this, novel fungal life forms are described which can grow on the available asphaltenes as a sole carbon and energy source. Geology Main article : Trinidad § Geology The origin of The Pitch Lake is related to deep faults in connection with subduction under the Caribbean Plate related to Barbados Arc. The lake has not been studied extensively, but 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. The researchers indicated that extremophiles inhabited the asphalt lake in populations ranging between 10 to 10 cells / gram. The Pitch Lake is one of several natural asphalt lakes in the world. The La Brea Tar Pits ( Los Angeles ), McKittrick Tar Pits ( McKittrick ) and Carpinteria Tar Pits ( Carpinteria ) are all in the U.S. state of California. Lake Guanoco is in the Republic of Venezuela. The regional geology of southern Trinidad consists of a trend of ridges, anticlines with shale diapiric cores, and sedimentary volcanoes. According to Woodside, `` host muds and / or shales become over pressured and under compacted in relation to the surrounding sediments... mud or shale diapirs or mud volcanoes result because of the unstable semi-fluid nature of the methane - charged, undercompacted shales / muds. '' The mud volcanoes are aligned along east - northeast parallel trends. Woodside goes on to say, `` The Asphalt Lake at Brighton represents a different kind of sedimentary volcanism in which gas and oil are acting on asphalt mixed with clay. This asphalt lake cuts across Miocene / Pliocene formations overlying a complicated thrust structure. '' The first wells were drilled into Pitch Lake oil seeps in 1866. Kerosene was distilled from the pitch in the lake from 1860 to 1865. The Guayaguayare No. 3 well was drilled in 1903, but the first commercial well was drilled at the west end of the lake in 1903. Oil was then discovered in Point Fortin - Perrylands area, and in 1911, the Tabaquite Field was discovered. The Forest Reserve Field was discovered in 1914 and the Penal Field in 1941. The first offshore well was drilled in 1954 at Soldado. See also Trinidad and Tobago portal Geology portal List of known tar pits Asphalt volcano References Jump up ^ `` ' The Pitch Lake ' ''. National Museums Liverpool. Jump up ^ La Brea, home of the pitch lake ^ Jump up to : Microbial ( 2011 ). `` abstract ''. Astrobiology. 11 : 241 -- 258. arXiv : 1004.2047. Bibcode : 2011AsBio... 11... 241S. doi : 10.1089 / ast. 2010.0488. Jump up ^ First ( 2011 ). `` abstract ''. Microbial Biotechnology. 4 : 663 -- 672. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1751 - 7915.2011. 00269. x. Jump up ^ `` A Gravity Investigation of the Pitch Lake Of Trinidad And Tobago ''. Geological Society of Trinidad & Tobago. Archived from the original on 2010 - 01 - 31. Retrieved 2008 - 05 - 27. Jump up ^ Microbial Life Found in Hydrocarbon Lake. the physics arXiv blog 15 April 2010. ^ Jump up to : Woodside, P.R., The Petroleum Geology of Trinidad and Tobago, 1981, USGS Report 81 - 660, Washington : US Dept. of the Interior, pp. 10 External links Wikisource has original text related to this article : Pitch Lake Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pitch Lake, Island of Trinidad. Trinidad 's Pitch Lake, a pictorial by Richard Seaman. sciencenews.org article on life in the lake Coordinates : 10 ° 13 ′ 57 '' N 61 ° 37 ′ 41 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 10.23250 ° N 61.62806 ° W ﻿ / 10.23250 ; - 61.62806 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pitch_Lake&oldid=854507027 '' Categories : Asphalt lakes Landforms of Trinidad and Tobago Talk Contents About Wikipedia Български Deutsch Eesti Español Esperanto Français Hrvatski עברית ქართული Lietuvių Nederlands 日本 語 Polski Português Русский Svenska Українська 中文 9 more Edit links This page was last edited on 11 August 2018, at 21 : 25 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: where is the pitch lake located in trinidad and tobago
Answer: located in La Brea in southwest Trinidad