Impressive lakes along the planet (Part 2)
As we already have seen in a previous article, many lakes on the planet are known for their particular characteristics. This characteristic, which makes them stand out, may be their color, their salinity, and the organisms that survive in them or even its structure. Each of these is unique.
The Salar de Uyuni is the largest mirror of the earth and is located in South America. The lake is what is left of Lake Minchin, which over the years has dried up. Two small lakes, Uru Uru and Poopó, were created in its place. The rest of the area is Salar de Coipasa and Uyuni. Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt-lake in the world, at a height of 3,656 meters above sea level and is estimated to have a stock of 10 billion tons of salt. When it rains and there is water in the lake, it is the largest mirror of our planet (CNN Greece, 2017).
Lake Blood Pond Hell or Chinoike Jigoku is located on Kyushu Island in Japan, and is one of the most popular areas in the country. The water of the lake has a strange, unique color, as it is red. High concentrations of ferrous minerals are responsible for this color (Atlas Obscura, 2018).
The jellyfish lake contains millions of golden jellyfish. The strange thing is that they are all migrating together to Lake Jellyfish, which is located in the Pacific Ocean. The area is actually called Ongeim'l Tketau and is a sea lake that communicates with the sea through tunnels and cracks in limestone. There are so many jellyfish on the lake, that their compact mass is visible from above. It is estimated that the lake is about twelve thousand years old, a guess based on the depth of the lake, about thirty meters, to the sediment thickness at its base - 20 meters - and the rise in sea level which, 12.000 years ago, had risen at a height sufficient to fill the basin turned into a lake (Wikipedia, 2018).
The Greek element is not missing from the list, as it is including the underground lake of Melissani. A large part of the roof has collapsed, revealing a fascinating spectacle. Melissanis is a unique geological phenomenon. It was created by a mechanical and chemical process called karstification, in which water penetrates the limestone rocks, erodes them and creates cavities (Dinfo, 2012).
Lake Mono in California is another lake in this list. The lake’s characteristic is its unexplained salty and alkaline water. What has made the lake particularly popular is its strange rocky formations. The unearthed rocks were formed by volcanic ash and were revealed when the lake's level decreased over time. At Lake Mono, the GFAJ-1 bacterium lives, and when it is deprived of phosphorus, it puts into it the poisonous element of Arsenic (Wikipedia, 2018).
Finally, Lake Retba or Lac Rose is located north of the Cap Vert peninsula in Senegal. Its name is probably due to the pink color of its waters, caused by the Dunaliella salina algae in the water. The color is particularly intense during the drought, while the lake is also characterized by its high salt content (Lake Rose - Lac Rose) - 2018).
Bibliography
Dinfo. (2012). Retrieved 2018, from ΠεριβάλλονΠροορισμοί: https://www.dinfo.gr/i-ypogeia-limni-tis-melissanis/ (greek article)
CNN Greece. (2017). Retrieved 2018, from Salar de Uyuni: H έρημος από αλάτι που είναι ο μεγαλύτερος καθρέφτης της γης (pics+vid): https://www.cnn.gr/taksidi/story/61216/salar-de-uyuni-h-erimos-apo-alati-poy-einai-o-megalyteros-kathreftis-tis-gis-pics-vid (greek article)
Atlas Obscura. (2018). Retrieved 2018, from Chinoike Jigoku: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/chinoike-jigoku
Lake Retba (Lac Rose) - The Pink Lake of Senegal. (2018). Retrieved 2018, from The Lake Retba: http://www.lakeretba.com/
Wikipedia. (2018). Retrieved 2018, from Mono Lake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_Lake
Wikipedia. (2018). Retrieved 2018, from Jellyfish Lake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jellyfish_Lake
