- Salt lake
The salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of
water which has a concentration ofsalt s (mostlysodium chloride ) and other minerals significantly higher than mostlake s (often defined as at least 3,000milligram s ofsalt perliter ). In many cases, salt lakes have a higher concentration of salt than sea water.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 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
salt flat orplaya (sometimes also referred to as salt pan).Notable lakes
In order, the three largest salt lakes in the world are the
Caspian Sea ,Aral Sea , andLake Balkhash . The largest salt lake in theWestern Hemisphere , theGreat Salt Lake , is the fourth largest salt lake in the world.The salt lake with the highest
elevation isNamtso , and the one with the lowest elevation is theDead Sea , which is also the lowest exposed point on the Earth's surface.Since the
8th century , the salt of LakeBaskunchak in Russia was mined and distributed via theSilk Road . Nowadays the lake's salt of distinct purity (99.8 % NaCl) covers 80 % of the country's salt production. Depending on need, about 1.5 million to 5 million tons of salt are mined per year.See also
* Salt pan
*Playa
*Salt evaporation pond References
* [http://www.esf.edu/efb/schulz/Limnology/HighConductivity.html Lecture notes on salt lakes]
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