- Lake Matano
-
Matano Location South Sulawesi, Indonesia Coordinates 2°29′7″S 121°20′0″E / 2.48528°S 121.333333°ECoordinates: 2°29′7″S 121°20′0″E / 2.48528°S 121.333333°E Lake type Tectonic Primary outflows Penten River Basin countries Indonesia Max. length 28 km [1] Max. width 8 km [1] Surface area 164.1 km² Max. depth 590 m [1] Surface elevation 382 m [1] 
Matano Sunset
Lake Matano (Indonesian: Danau Matano), also known as Matana, is a natural lake in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is the deepest lake in Indonesia (ranked by maximum depth), and the 10th deepest lake in the world. It is located at 2°29′7″S 121°20′0″E / 2.48528°S 121.333333°E.
Contents
Endemic Fish of Matano
Lake Matano is home to many species of endemic fish and other animals as well as many plants. The endemic fishes of Matano have been compared to that of the species swarms of the Rift Valley Lakes of Africa. While not as diverse, they are thought to have all arisen from a single ancestor species and diversified into numerous different species, which now fill many of the previously vacant ecological niches.
Environmental Concerns
Despite Lake Matano's remote location, it is the site of Pt. INCO, one of the largest nickel mines in the world, which carries out strip mining in the surrounding rainforest. although large areas are cleared for mining the company has a well regarded rehabilitation program and award-winning sediment control systems. The waters of Lake Matano are exceptionally clear, visibility is good, and many of the fish species are highly dependent on visual cues and colour perception for their mating behaviour. If the sediment washing into the lake continues to increase, the likelihood is that many of these endemic species will be lost.
Scientific interest
Below the top layer of oxygenated water, Lake Matano's depths are anoxic, free of sulfates, and rich in iron.[2] These conditions make Lake Matano an analog for Earth's oceans during the Archean Eon,[3] which is useful for studying relationships between anoxygenic phototrophs and banded iron formations.[4] The lake contains a population of green sulfur bacteria that conducts photosynthesis with bacteriochlorophyll e.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d Crowe, Sean A. (2008), "The biogeochemistry of tropical lakes: A case study from Lake Matano, Indonesia", Limnology and Oceanography 53 (1): 319–331, http://gizmo.geotop.uqam.ca/mucciA/Crowe_et_al_LO_2008.pdf
- ^ Perkins, Sid (2009), "The iron record of Earth's oxygen", Science News 175 (13): 24–28, 2009-06-20, doi:10.1002/scin.5591751321, ISSN 0036-8423, http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/44350/title/The_iron_record_of_Earth%E2%80%99s_oxygen, retrieved 2009-06-30
- ^ Crowe, Sean (2008), Biogeochemical cycling in iron-rich Lake Matano, Indonesia: An early ocean analogue, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:8881/R/-?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=21977¤t_base=GEN01, retrieved 2009-06-30
- ^ a b Crowe, Sean; Jones, CarriAyne; Katsev, Sergei; et al., C; O'Neill, AH; Sturm, A; Canfield, DE; Haffner, GD et al. (2008), "Photoferrotrophs thrive in an Archean Ocean analogue", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 (41): 15938–43, 2008-10-14, doi:10.1073/pnas.0805313105, ISSN 0148-0227, PMC 2572968, PMID 18838679, http://www.pnas.org/content/105/41/15938.full, retrieved 2009-06-30
See also
- List of lakes of Indonesia
Categories:- Lakes of Indonesia
- Sulawesi geography stubs
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
