Lluta River 2.06

The Lluta River is a river located in the northern portion of the Arica y Parinacota Region of Chile. Its headwaters are on the western flanks of the Andes of the Parinacota Province, just a few kilometers south of the border with Peru, and empties into the Pacific Ocean about 4 km north of the city of Arica.CourseThe Lluta originates at the confluence of the Quebrada Caracarani and the Azufre River, at an elevation about 3,900 m asl. Along its first 36 km, the river flows southeast and then slowly begins to turn towards the west. In its descent to the lower elevations of the valley, the river starts to run through a canyon carved by the same river in rhyolite tuffs and other sediments scarcely joined.In the vicinity of Socoroma, the river turns directly west and just past the canyon terminus, the river begins to widen. In Chironta, about 70 km from the sea, appear the first farms, whose foods are of a great importance for the consume of local people. Finally, the river empties into Pacific Ocean at an extensive beach, just a few kilometers north of Arica.The hydrologic regime of the river basin is rain-dominated. The increase of its water volume occurs mainly in January and February, as a consequence of the phenomenon known as Bolivian Winter.