READ ABOUT THE WONDERS OF A TANZANIAN SALT LAKE
Have you heard of Lake Natron?The Lake that turns any living animal it comes in contact with into stone
The ghastly Lake , in northern Tanzania, is a salt lake, meaning water flows in, but doesn’t flow out, so it only escapes by evaporation. Over time, as water evaporates, it leaves behind high conc. of salt and other minerals, like at the Dead Sea and Utah’s Great Salt Lake. Unlike other lakes, Lake Natron is extremely alkaline due to high 'natron' in the water. The water’s pH has been measured as high as 10.5, nearly as high as ammonia. “It’s so high that it would strip the ink off my Kodak film boxes within a few seconds,” Photographer Brandt says.
No one knows for certain exactly how die, but it appears that the extreme reflective nature of the lake’s surface confuses the animals, causing them to crash into the lake. The soda and salt causes the creatures to calcify, perfectly preserved, as they dry. Lake Natron is inhospitable to life.Blood-red from the bacteria that live in it, the salt lake is steaming hot, with temperatures that can reach up to 140°F, according to the New Scientist.
Brandt theorizes that the highly-reflective, chemical dense waters acts like a glass door, fooling birds into thinking they’re flying through empty space, not long ago, a helicopter pilot tragically fell victim, as his aircraft crashed & was rapidly corroded by the lake’s waters. Just coming into contact with the water was dangerous. “It’s so caustic, that even if you’ve got the tiniest cut, it’s very painful,” Brandt says. “Nobody would ever swim in this, it’d be complete madness.”
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