A
hypersaline lake is a landlocked
body of waterA body of water or waterbody is any significant accumulation of water, usually covering the Earth or another planet. The term body of water most often refers to large accumulations of water, such as oceans, seas, and lakes, but it may also include smaller pools of water such as ponds, puddles or...
, that contains significant concentrations of
sodium chlorideSodium chloride, also known as salt, common salt, table salt, or halite, is an ionic compound with the formula NaCl. Sodium chloride is the salt most responsible for the salinity of the ocean and of the extracellular fluid of many multicellular organisms...
or other mineral salts. Typical
salineSaline water is a general term for water that contains a significant concentration of dissolved salts . The concentration is usually expressed in parts per million of salt....
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, 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.
The most well-known example of a hypersaline lake is the
Dead SeaThe Dead Sea is a salt lake in Jordan to the east and in the West Bank and Israel to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface on dry land. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also one of the world's...
, dividing
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
and
JordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in Western Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba. Jordan shares borders with Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, the Gulf of Aqaba to the southwest,...
, at 8.6 times the
salinitySalinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates...
of ocean water, which is also the world's deepest hypersaline lake.
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A
hypersaline lake is a landlocked
body of waterA body of water or waterbody is any significant accumulation of water, usually covering the Earth or another planet. The term body of water most often refers to large accumulations of water, such as oceans, seas, and lakes, but it may also include smaller pools of water such as ponds, puddles or...
, that contains significant concentrations of
sodium chlorideSodium chloride, also known as salt, common salt, table salt, or halite, is an ionic compound with the formula NaCl. Sodium chloride is the salt most responsible for the salinity of the ocean and of the extracellular fluid of many multicellular organisms...
or other mineral salts. Typical
salineSaline water is a general term for water that contains a significant concentration of dissolved salts . The concentration is usually expressed in parts per million of salt....
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, 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.
The most well-known example of a hypersaline lake is the
Dead SeaThe Dead Sea is a salt lake in Jordan to the east and in the West Bank and Israel to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface on dry land. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also one of the world's...
, dividing
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
and
JordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in Western Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba. Jordan shares borders with Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, the Gulf of Aqaba to the southwest,...
, at 8.6 times the
salinitySalinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates...
of ocean water, which is also the world's deepest hypersaline lake. On the
French PolynesiaFrench Polynesia is a French overseas collectivity in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
n island of
NiauNiau is a small atoll in French Polynesia, in the commune of Fakarava . This atoll has broad fringing reef and an area of 20 km²....
, there is a swampy landlocked hypersaline lagoon. In western North America is
Mono LakeMono Lake is an alkaline and hypersaline lake in Mono County, California. It has an unusually productive ecosystem, and is a critical nesting habitat for several bird species.-Geology:...
. There are a number of saline lakes in
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
, one of the largest of which is the seasonal
Makgadikgadi PanThe Makgadikgadi Pan is a large salt pan in northern Botswana, the largest salt flat complex in the world. These salt pans cover and form the bed of the ancient Lake Makgadikgadi that started evaporating many millennia ago...
.