10 Mysterious Places on Earth Where Water Vanishes

2. Lake Cachet II: The Vanishing Glacial Lake of Patagonia

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High in Chile’s Patagonian Andes, Lake Cachet II shocked the world in 2008 when it emptied overnight, leaving only mud. Research showed a glacial lake outburst flood, not an earthquake, was to blame. Melting weakened the Colonia Glacier that dammed the lake, and mounting water pressure punched a five-mile tunnel beneath the ice. About 200 million cubic meters of water roared into the Colonia River system. Since then, the lake has refilled and drained several times, giving scientists a rare chance to track how warming glaciers create—and suddenly release—unstable lakes, a growing global hazard in a hotter climate.