Saltlake

Saltlake is a general term used to describe a natural body of water that has a high concentration of salt and other minerals. Salt lakes form in closed drainage basins where evaporation exceeds inflow, causing dissolved salts to accumulate over time. Minerals precipitate out and may create crystalline crusts along the shoreline. The salinity of salt lakes varies widely, from a few times seawater to many hundreds of times seawater, generating extreme chemical environments.

Ecology in salt lakes is adapted to high salinity. Many salt lakes support halophilic microorganisms and brine-shrimp, while most fish and many aquatic plants are absent or rare. Color variations can occur due to microalgae such as Dunaliella and to mineral deposits, which can tint the water or shorelines.

Notable examples include the Great Salt Lake in Utah, United States; the Dead Sea along the Jordan Rift Valley; and Lake Urmia in Iran. In some regions, salt lakes are part of larger brine basins or salt flats, where mining for minerals, including lithium, takes place.

Human use includes salt harvesting, mineral extraction, and increasingly tourism and scientific research. Environmental pressures include water diversion for agriculture, climate change, and habitat disruption, which can cause lake shrinkage, altered salinity, or loss of shoreline ecosystems.

Salt lakes are studied in hydrology and geology as indicators of arid-region climate, evaporation processes, and mineral cycles. They also illustrate the diversity of lacustrine environments beyond freshwater lakes.