Lake Natron is located in the heart of Tanzania , in the Rift Valley , this lake of saline waters is an inhospitable place and far from anywhere where only the Masai and flamingos know how to extract from its interior the scarce life that contains.
Summary
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- 1 Location
- 2 Your Name
- 3 Features
- 4 Flora and fauna
- 5 Curiosities
- 6 Sources
Location
Lake Natron Map
Lake Natron is a salt lake, endorheic water (without access to the sea ) located in the eastern region of the African continent, on the border between Kenya and Tanzania , over the Great Rift Valley. It is located about 25 km north of Oldonyo Lengai and borders Kenya. Its area is between 600 and 800 km², but sometimes it manages to exceed 1000 km². This salty lake is one of the most serene in all of Africa, and to the south of its position is the majestic Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano (“The Mountain of God”).
Your name
The lake takes its name from the natron, a mineral that in ancient times was called “divine salt” and was used by the Egyptians in the mummification process.
characteristics
Lake Natron, note the color of its waters.
Its complex chemical compounds are numerous . Different types of chlorine , sodium and magnesium salts are usually extracted from this lake . Its alkaline waters have an incredible pH of 10.5 and it is such a caustic liquid that it can cause serious burns to the skin and eyes of the animals that come there and that, logically, have not yet managed to adapt. The alkalinity of these waters comes, among other things, from sodium carbonateand other mineral compounds that, from the surrounding mountains, flow into the lake. Sodium carbonate arises from the depths of the earth through geysers. These spirals decorate the surface of its waters, as well as the soda that accumulates on the banks like a white foam. Lake Natron is one of the strangest and most surprising lakes on earth. Sometimes its waters are stained red by the proliferation of algae.
Flora and fauna
Pink flamingos and their young in the lake.
Alcalopia Alcalica, endemic fish of Lake Natron.
When water evaporates during the dry season, salinity levels rise to the point that salt-loving organisms begin to thrive. Organisms like some cyanobacteria, tiny bacteria that grow in water and make their own food through photosynthesis like plants do. The red pigment of cyanobacteria produces the deep red colors of the open waters of the lake and orange colors of the shallow parts of the lake. We also find the blue spirulina alga. An estimated 2.5 million pink flamingos inhabit the lake, the flamingos that inhabit the lake are able to filter alkaline waters with their beaks to feed on algae and nutrient-rich cyanobacteria. They feed in the lake raise their chicks, as the lake provides a barrier against predators trying to reach their nests. There is also a unique endemic fish species in the world, the Alcalopia Alcalica, an Extremophilous fish that is capable of surviving in these conditions.
Curiosities
Although the most chilling thing about the lake is that the animals that come into contact with its waters calcify, looking like they were petrified after having drenched in its waters. The reason why birds and bats end up diving in such a hostile environment is unknown. Although it is assumed that it could be because its calm waters reflect the sky so clearly that at sunset they could confuse them and fall into the lake by chance
During his trip to Africa, photographer Nick Brandt visited this toxic lake and discovered several dead animals on its shores. The birds and other small mammals that end up in the water die and little by little they become small statues of lime.
these animals have not died from the lake itself, but were simply petrified and preserved by these compounds. Finally, it is also essential to point out that Nick Brandt himself clarified that the photographs were prepared for artistic purposes and that he himself placed these petrified animals, which he found on the shores and surroundings of the lake, in such a way that it would appear that they had died in that precise moment, in the lake.
