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A hypersaline lake is a landlocked body of water, that contains significant concentrations of sodium chloride or other mineral salts. Typical saline levels surpass that of ocean water (e.g. 31.5 grams/liter). There are specific microbial and crustacean species that thrive in these high salinity environments,[1] that are otherwise inhospitable to most lifeforms. Some of these species attain dormancy when they are desiccated and certain species have been shown to survive for over 250 million years.[2]
The most well-known example of a hypersaline lake is the Dead Sea, dividing Israel and Jordan, at 8.6 times the salinity of ocean water, which is also the world's deepest hypersaline lake.[3] On the French Polynesian island of Niau, there is a swampy landlocked hypersaline lagoon. In western North America is Mono Lake. There are a number of saline lakes in Africa, one of the largest of which is the seasonal Makgadikgadi Pan.[4]
See also
References
- ^ Hammer, Ulrich Theodore (1986). Saline Lake Ecosystems of the World. Springer. ISBN 90-6193-535-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=NOdvPFm6SyoC&pg=PA315&dq=Lovenula&ei=KkFMSZHSGqWQkATs0cSSDw#PPA39,M1.
- ^ Horikoshi, Kōki; W. D. Grant (1998). "Microbial Life in Hypersaline Environments". Extremophiles: Microbial Life in Extreme Environments. Wiley-Liss, Inc.. pp. 93-132. ISBN 0-471-02618-2. http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/extreme/hypersaline/.
- ^ Goetz, P.W. (ed.) The New Encyclopaedia Britannica (15th ed.). Vol. 3, p. 937. Chicago, 1986
- ^ Hogan, C. Michael (2008). "Makgadikgadi". The Megalithic Portal. http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=22373&mode=&order=0. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
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