Salt lake
A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). In some cases, salt lakes have a higher concentration of salt than sea water; such lakes can also be termed hypersaline lakes. An alkalic salt lake that has a high content of carbonate is sometimes termed a soda lake.
Saline lake classification:[1]
- subsaline 0.5–3 ‰
- hyposaline 3–20 ‰
- mesosaline 20–50 ‰
- hypersaline greater than 50 ‰
Properties
Salt lakes form when the water flowing into the lake, containing salt or minerals, cannot leave because the lake is endorheic (terminal). The water then evaporates, leaving behind any dissolved salts and thus increasing its salinity, making a salt lake an excellent place for salt production. High salinity will also lead to a unique halophilic flora and fauna in the lake in question; sometimes, in fact, the result may be an absence or near absence of life near the salt lake.
If the amount of water flowing into a lake is less than the amount evaporated, the lake will eventually disappear and leave a dry lake (also called playa or salt flat).
List
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- Aral Sea
- Bakhtegan Lake
- Caspian Sea
- Dead Sea
- Don Juan Pond
- Great Salt Lake
- Lake Assal
- Lake Eyre
- Lake Gairdner
- Lake Hillier
- Lake Mackay
- Lake Natron
- Lake Torrens
- Lake Urmia
- Lake Van
- Lake Vanda
- Little Manitou Lake
- Maharloo Lake
- Mono Lake
- Salton Sea
- Sawa lake
- List of saltwater lakes of China
See Also
List of bodies of water by salinity
References
- ^ Hammer, U. T. (1986). Saline Lake Ecosystems of the World. Springer. p. 15. ISBN 90-6193-535-0.
External links
Media related to Salt lakes at Wikimedia Commons
