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Lake Enriquillo

 
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Lake Enriquillo
 
 
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Lake Enriquillo is a lake in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are List of divided islands, Saint Martin being the other....
, it is one of only a few saltwater
Seawater

Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5%, or 35 parts per thousand . This means that every 1 kg of seawater has approximately 35 grams of sea salt ....
 lake
Lake

A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all....
s in the world inhabited by crocodile
American Crocodile

The American crocodile is a species of crocodilian found primarily in Central America. It is the most widespread of the four Extant taxon species of crocodiles from the Americas....
s. Lake Enriquillo
Enriquillo

Enriquillo was a Ta?no Cacique who rebelled against the Spaniards from 1519 to 1533. His father was killed while attending peace talks with the Spanish, along with eighty other regional chieftains under the direction of his aunt Anacaona in Jaragua....
 is located in a rift valley
Rift valley

A rift valley is a linear-shaped lowland between highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift or fault . This action is manifest as crustal extension, a spreading apart of the surface which is subsequently further deepened by the forces of erosion....
 that extends 79 miles (127 km) from Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince

Port-au-Prince is the Capital and largest List of cities in Haiti of Haiti. Growth, especially in crowded slums in nearby plains and hillsides, has raised the population of the Port-au-Prince area to between 2.5 and 3 million....
 Bay in Haiti
Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Haitian Creole language- and French language-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago....
 in the west to near Neiba Bay in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are List of divided islands, Saint Martin being the other....
 in the east.

The rift valley is a former marine strait, and was created around 1 million years ago when the water level fell and by sediments of the Yaque del Sur River
Yaque del Sur River

The Yaque del Sur River is a river in the southwestern Dominican Republic. It is approximately 130 kilometre in length....
. The lake is 9 to 12 miles (15 to 20 km) wide.






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Lake Enriquillo is a lake in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are List of divided islands, Saint Martin being the other....
, it is one of only a few saltwater
Seawater

Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5%, or 35 parts per thousand . This means that every 1 kg of seawater has approximately 35 grams of sea salt ....
 lake
Lake

A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all....
s in the world inhabited by crocodile
American Crocodile

The American crocodile is a species of crocodilian found primarily in Central America. It is the most widespread of the four Extant taxon species of crocodiles from the Americas....
s. Lake Enriquillo
Enriquillo

Enriquillo was a Ta?no Cacique who rebelled against the Spaniards from 1519 to 1533. His father was killed while attending peace talks with the Spanish, along with eighty other regional chieftains under the direction of his aunt Anacaona in Jaragua....
 is located in a rift valley
Rift valley

A rift valley is a linear-shaped lowland between highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift or fault . This action is manifest as crustal extension, a spreading apart of the surface which is subsequently further deepened by the forces of erosion....
 that extends 79 miles (127 km) from Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince

Port-au-Prince is the Capital and largest List of cities in Haiti of Haiti. Growth, especially in crowded slums in nearby plains and hillsides, has raised the population of the Port-au-Prince area to between 2.5 and 3 million....
 Bay in Haiti
Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Haitian Creole language- and French language-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago....
 in the west to near Neiba Bay in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are List of divided islands, Saint Martin being the other....
 in the east.

The rift valley is a former marine strait, and was created around 1 million years ago when the water level fell and by sediments of the Yaque del Sur River
Yaque del Sur River

The Yaque del Sur River is a river in the southwestern Dominican Republic. It is approximately 130 kilometre in length....
. The lake is 9 to 12 miles (15 to 20 km) wide. Known as the Cul-de-Sac Depression
Cul-de-Sac Depression

The Cul-de-Sac Depression is a lowland on the island of Hispaniola. It extends from southeastern Haiti into the southwestern Dominican Republic, where it is known as the Hoya de Enriquillo....
 in Haiti and the Hoya de Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic, parts of the rift valley are below sea level and are covered by large salt lakes.

Lake Enriquillo covers an area of 102 square miles (265 km²) and is the lowest point in the Caribbean
Caribbean

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
 falling 144 feet (44 m) below sea level. Its drainage basin
Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean....
 includes 10 minor river systems. The rivers that rise in the Neiba Mountains to the north (lower center and lower right of the image) are perennial. Those rivers that rise in the Baoruco
Baoruco

Baoruco, alternatively spelt Bahoruco, is a Provinces of the Dominican Republic of the Dominican Republic. Before 1952 it included what is now Independencia Province....
 Mountains to the south (upper center and upper left of the image) are intermittent.

Lake Enriquillo has no outlet. The lake's water level varies because of a combination of storm-driven precipitation events and the region's high evaporation
Evaporation

Evaporation is the slow vaporization of a liquid and the reverse of condensation. A type of phase transition, it is the process by which molecules in a liquid State of matter spontaneously become gaseous ....
 rate. Salinity in the lake can vary between 33 ppt to over 100 ppt. Tremors in the region are common. Just above the right center of the image, the other large salt lake in the rift valley, Etang Saumātre
Etang Saumātre

?tang Saum?tre , Haiti's largest lake, is located at in southeastern Haiti, bordering the Dominican Republic. The Salinity lake has an area of around 170 km? and is 29 km east of Port-au-Prince on the fertile Plaine du Cul-de-Sac....
 located in the country of Haiti, is visible.

The lake contains 3 islands: Isla Barbarita, Islita and Isla Cabritos. The last one is the largest of all and contains a National Park famous for the crocodiles and flamingo
Caribbean Flamingo

The American Flamingo or Caribbean Flamingo is a large species of flamingo closely related to the Greater Flamingo and Chilean Flamingo....
s. When water levels drop as a result of dry spells, the islands are usually linked to each other by sandbars.

The region is one of the hottest and most arid places in the Caribbean with an average annual rainfall of about 20 inches or more, which is why evaporation occurs quickly in the area and which is also why you can find plants that thrive in arid climates.

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