{{Infobox lake | name = Lake Letas | image = Mount_Gharat_and_Lake_Letas.jpg | alt = Lake Letas with Mount Gharat | caption = with Mount Gharat | image_bathymetry = Map-Gaua-Vanuatu.png | caption_bathymetry = Map of Gaua, with Lake Letas in center | alt_bathymetry = Map of Gaua, with Lake Letas in center | location = Gaua | coords = {{coord|14|17|S|167|32|E|region:VU_type:waterbody_source:GNS-enwiki|display=inline,title}} | type = crater lake | inflow = |pushpin_map=Vanuatu | pushpin_map_alt = Location in Vanuatu | outflow = Siri Waterfall | catchment = | basin_countries = Vanuatu | length = {{convert|6.3|km|abbr=on}} | width = {{convert|3.6|km|abbr=on}} | area = {{convert|19|km2|abbr=on}} | depth = {{convert|42|m|abbr=on}} | max-depth = {{convert|119|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="bathy"/> | volume = {{convert|800|e6m3|acre.ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="bathy"/> | residence_time = | shore = | elevation = {{convert|418|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="Bani"/> | islands = | cities = | embedded = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = Ramsar | designation1_offname = Lake Letes | designation1_date = 15 September 2023 | designation1_number = 2524<ref name="RSIS">{{Cite web|title=Lake Letes|website=Ramsar Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/2524|access-date=20 October 2023}}</ref>}} }} <!--thumb|right|300px|Gaua closeup map--> '''Lake Letas''' is the largest lake in Vanuatu, located in the center of the volcanic island of Gaua of the Banks Islands in northern Vanuatu. The place submitted an application to be considered an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, and has been listed as a protected Ramsar site since 2023.<ref name="RSIS"/>
The volcanic lake is U-shaped, surrounding Mount Gharat on all sides except southwest. It is about 9 km long (north to south) and about 6 km wide, with an area of 19 km<sup>2</sup>. It is situated in the center of the 20 km diameter island; the lake rests 418 meters above sea level<ref name="Bani">Bani, Ernest, & David Esrom. 1993. [http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/wetlands/pdf/Oceania/Republic%20of%20Vanuatu.pdf Republic of Vanuatu] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100717032614/http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/wetlands/pdf/Oceania/Republic%20of%20Vanuatu.pdf |date=2010-07-17 }}. In ''A directory of wetlands in Oceania'', ed. by D. A. Scott. Slimbridge, UK: International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau, 397-420.</ref> and it is 119 meters deep.<ref name="bathy">{{in lang|fr}} Thery Laurent, Charley Douglas, Lardy Michel, Tari Joseph, 1995, [http://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:43112 Bathymétrie du lac Létas, Ile de Gaua (Banks), Vanuatu]. Port-Vila: ORSTOM.</ref> It is a fresh water lake with a temperature of 32 °C, where only eels and shrimps can survive.<ref>Mourgues, Adrien. 2005. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240807062531/http://www.adaptationlearning.net/sites/default/files/republic_of_vanuatu_environment_profile_2004%20(1).pdf Republic of Vanuatu Environment Profile]. Port-Vila. 74 pp.</ref> The water in the lake is not very clear, but has a greenish color. Water constantly flows out of the lake at a natural overflow located on the eastern side of the lake. The water flows about 3 km east to Siri Waterfall and then another 3 km through rivers ''Namang'' or ''Be Solomul'' before it reaches the sea.
[[File:Gaua.jpg|thumb|left|300px|2013 Satellite view of Gaua I., with Lake Letas and Mt Gharat in its center]] Local people say there is a canoe at the top of the lake which is used to cross the lake from the eastern side to get to Mount Gharat. The canoe is sometimes located on the eastern edge of the lake (near the water overflow), or sometimes on the north-eastern edge of the lake (nearest Gaua Airport).
A rough estimate of the water flow rate out of the lake (during the dry season month of August 2006) was approximately 3 cubic meters per second.
In the 1980s it was suggested that the lake could be used as a resource for power generation to supply industrial developments but later the Tourism Council of the South Pacific has suggested that the lake should be included in Vanuatu's protected area system. The Department of Physical Planning and Environment is currently considering the status of protected area to the lake.
==Name== The name ''Letas'' {{IPA|mtt|leˈtas|}} comes from the Mota language, which missionaries used to name most places within the Banks Islands. Names in other local languages include Nume ''Le Tes'' {{IPA|tsg|lɛˈtɛs|}}, Dorig ''Bētās'' {{IPA|wwo|ᵐbɪˈtaːs|}}, Koro ''Bētäs'' {{IPA|krf|ᵐbɪˈtɛ͡as|}}, Olrat ''Lē Tas'' {{IPA|olr|lɪˈtas|}}, and Lakon ''Ēpitäh'' {{IPA|lkn|ɪpiˈtæh|}}. All of these terms contain a reflex of Proto-Torres–Banks *''tasi'', meaning "sea". Additionally, the Dorig and Koro forms contain an initial component that can be reconstructed as *''ᵐbei'', meaning "water".
==Notes and references== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1974/ UNESCO World Heritage Site Application] * [https://archive.today/20130705173841/http://www.vanuatuculture.org/news/featured-articles/14-cultural-historical-sites-register/43-the-volcanoes-serial-site-world-heritage-project The Volcanoes Serial Site World Heritage Project].
{{DEFAULTSORT:Letas}} Category:Volcanic crater lakes Category:Lakes of Vanuatu Category:Ramsar sites in Vanuatu