Recently saline Mono Lake attracts a lot of attention and posts in different media. The reason is the drought in California that impacts the lake water level. The LA Times reported, “In recent months, the Department of Water and Power has reduced its take from [Lake] Mono’s tributaries by more than two-thirds. Still, the 1-million-year-old lake is […]
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and the Southern Azerbaijan Alliance convened a conference at the European Parliament, entitled ‘Lake Urmia – Humanitarian and Environmental Disaster in Iran’. Aimed at examining the potentially devastating and far-reaching consequences of the crisis surrounding Lake Urmia, the roundtable event also addressed the possible role the EU could […]
Detailed review on functional microbiology of soda lakes was published by Dimitry Sorokin with colleagues. Review summarizes results of studies of main functional groups of the soda lake prokaryotes responsible for carbon, nitrogen and sulfur cycling, including oxygenic and anoxygenic phototrophs, aerobic chemolithotrophs, fermenting and respiring anaerobes. The main conclusion from this work is that […]
The team of international scientists detected extensive salty groundwater networks in Antarctica using a novel airborne electromagnetic mapping sensor system called SkyTEM. The research provides evidence that the underground lakes and brine-saturated sediments may support subsurface microbial ecosystems. The findings shed new light on ancient climate change on Earth and provide evidence that a similar briny […]
It seems that our planet is close to the vast man-made drought. The reasons are climate change as an anthropogenic impact, as well as hyper extraction of water for industrial and irrigation purposes. Saline lakes are extremely sensitive to both effects. The result is worldwide decline of saline lakes. The new research from Peking University and […]
Earth Observatory NASA web page share with the public the images, stories, and discoveries about climate and the environment. This is the winter selection. The world’s saltiest body of water – Don Juan Pond in the lowest part of Upper Wright Valley in Antarctida is so salty that its calcium-chloride rich waters rarely freeze. With a salinity level […]
Yahoo News reports the ‘Nature’s revenge’ on the banks of Dead Sea (Israel). With the water level decline, because of the construction of dams, storage reservoirs and pipelines, the unique salt lake is drying up at a distressing rate. The Dead Sea is evaporating at a rate of nearly four feet per year and large […]
Richard Stone. Saving Iran’s great salt lake. Science 04 Sep 2015: Vol. 349, Issue 6252, pp. 1044-1047 “Lake Urmia, in Iran’s northwestern corner, was once the planet’s sixth largest salt lake, covering about 5200 square kilometers—a bit larger than the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Flamingos, egrets, and other waterfowl feasted on brine shrimp, and […]
A team of internationally recognized scientists highlight the growing importance of saline lake research. In new paper “Ecological impacts of global warming and water abstraction on lakes and reservoirs due to changes in water level and related changes in salinity” scientists discuss how changes in water level and salinity related to climate change and water abstraction affect […]
Even thought well known for specialists in the field, this professional paper have to be used as a perfect reference on the topic of long-term balance between input and loss of salts in closed lakes. The paper is also interesting as presents hydrologic data for several closed lakes that are quite different in volume and […]