What are some unusual lakes in the world? Lakes are landlocked water bodies which cover 0.013% of Earth. Our planet contains more than 300 million lakes. Every lake has some unusual feature which makes it different from the others. Some lakes are home to unusual natural phenomenon like Lake Maracaibo or Lake Natron, while others are known for their weird creatures like stingless jellyfish of jellyfish.
There are lakes which are known for their interesting colors like red lake in Bolivia or neon green lake in New Zealand. Many lakes have distinct water content like world’s most acidic lake in Kawah Ijen or highly saline Spotted Lake in Canada. Some lakes are frozen as ice and some are boiling hot like cauldron.
Top 10 Most unusual lakes in the world 2022:
10. Laguna Colorada
This blood-red lake is located in Bolivia. The Lake has a surface area of 60 km2 and a depth of 1.5 Km. Red algae that thrive in the lake along with red sediment brought up from the bottom gives this lake red color. This lake retains its red color all year round. Sometimes lake might turn green when a different type of algae grows due to changes in temperature and salinity of the lake.
The lake is home to Andean, Chilean, and James flamingos. James flamingos are rarest among them. These flamingos were thought to be extinct until their rediscovery in 1957. They feed on red algae that thrive in this lake. Red algae is also responsible for the pink color of flamingos.
9. Lake Abraham
Lake Abraham is an artificial lake formed in 1972 when the Bighorn dam was constructed on the river Saskatchewan. It has a surface area of 53.7 Km squared and a length of 32 Km.
What sets this lake apart from other frozen lakes is the columns of milky orbs that appear in the lake during winters. These milky orbs are the bubbles of methane gas. These bubbles are formed when bacteria present in the lake decomposes dead organic matter. These bubbles then move upwards and freeze in the cold waters of the lake.
8. Spotted lake
This saline-alkali lake lies northwest of Osoyoos in British Columbia, Canada. It is 0.7 Km long and 0.25 Km wide. This lake looks like an ordinary lake in winter and spring. But as the sun shines in summer most of the water starts to evaporate, leaving behind hundreds of shallow mineral-rich pools of purple, yellow, green, brown, and blue colors.
These colorful pools are the result of minerals like sodium, magnesium, Titanium, and sulfates. The colors depend on the mineral concentration of each pool. The color, shape, and size of each pool changes throughout summer as further evaporation of water take place. The minerals from this lake were extracted to be used as ammunition during WWI.
This lake has been known to the First Nation people of Okanagan valley as “Klikuk Lake”. They have used this lake as a sacred site owing to its healing properties for centuries. Due to the high salinity of the lake, only few salt-loving algae thrive in the lake.
7. Devil’s bath lake
This neon green lake lies in Wai-o-Tapu, New Zealand. The lake was created in an intense geothermal activity 200,000 years ago. Its green color comes from sulfur, ferrous salts, and other minerals. The intensity of the green color varies with two things.
One is the angle that the sun makes with the water. The other is the concentration of sulfur and iron. When the lake has a high concentration of iron it turns bright green whereas a high sulfur concentration gives it a greenish-yellow shade. The “half sewer” and “half-rotten egg” smell of the lake is caused by sulfur fumes.
6. Kawah Ijen Lake
This turquoise blue lake in the crater of Kwah Ijen volcano is the world’s largest acidic lake with a PH of as low as 0.5. This lake is 1Km wide and 200m deep. A high concentration of dissolved metals together with hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid gives this lake turquoise blue color. This lake dissolves anything even the metals.
The acidity of the lake comes from hydrogen chloride gas emitted by volcanoes. When gas reacted with water it cooled down and formed hydrochloric acid. The cause of the lake’s acidity is the emission of hydrogen chloride and hydrogen sulfide gases from the Kawah Ijen volcano below. When hydrogen chloride gas reacts with water it makes hydrochloric acid. This lake is also an active site for sulfur mining since 1968. The volcano releases sulfuric gases. The sulfur is brought up to the surface when these gases condense. It is then broken into large pieces and carried away in the baskets.
5. Boiling Lake
This flooded fumarole is located in Dominica. The lake sits on top of molten lava. It is the second-largest boiling lake in the world. The molten lava releases hot gases and steam giving this lake a temperature of about 160°F-190°F on the edges. Its greyish blue waters are often engulfed in thick clouds of steam and fog.
The lake is fed by rainwater and two small streams. The lake was discovered in 1870 by two Englishmen Henry Alfred Nicholls and Edmund Watt.
4. Lake Hillier
This bubble gum pink lake is located in Australia. What makes this lake unique is its ability to retain its color all year round unlike other pink lakes which change their color with temperature. The water doesn’t change color even if it’s taken in a bottle.
The pink color of the lake comes from a type of algae Dunaliella Salina. It produces energy by utilizing all visible frequencies of light except the frequencies that exist in orange red spectrum. These algae also contain a red pigment called carotenoids that intensify the pink color of the lake. Another reason for the pink color of the lake is Halobacteria and archaea thriving in the lake’s crust. They also produce a red pigment like carotenoids with the help of their cell membrane.
This lake was discovered in 1802 by Matthew flinders who named it in the hour of his deceased crew member William Hillier. In the 19th century, the lake was used to extract salt but the project was later discontinued due to the toxic nature of salt.
3. Jellyfish Lake
This lake is famous for its harmless golden jellyfish and their bizarre migration pattern. Millions of golden jellyfish migrate from one side of the lake to the other and back again every day. The reason behind this bizarre migration is a symbiotic relationship between jellyfish and zooplankton known as Zooxanthellae. These algae-like creatures live inside jellyfish’s tissues and produce energy for their host as a result of photosynthesis.
So, when the sun is rising, these jellyfish move towards the eastern end of the lake to acquire sunlight. Here they rest for a while as there is plenty of sunlight. However, when the sun starts setting they alter their direction and move towards the western end of the lake where they wait for the next day.
This migration pattern also provides jellyfish protection from Jellyfish eating anemones. These anemones are always lurking in shadowy parts of the lake. As long as jellyfish stay away from the shadowy edges they’re safe otherwise they’ll meet a terrible end at the hands of anemones.
2. Lake Natron
Lake Natron is the most petrifying lake in the world. It is located in Tanzania near the Kenyan border. Its highly alkaline waters contain salts like sodium carbonate and sodium hydrogen carbonate that flow into the lake from a nearby active volcano. This volcano spills the lava in the form of natrocarbonotites instead of silicates. When lava cools down it transforms into a white powder. Rainwater carries this residue and deposits it into the lake.
When a bird creature dies in the lake sodium carbonate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, and other salts act as a natural preservative and calcify its corpse. These are the same chemicals that were used by ancient Egyptians to mummify their bodies thousands of years ago.
Despite such harsh conditions lake is not entirely lifeless. Infect, this lake is a breeding ground for lesser flamingos. These flamingos can live in such alkaline and salty waters thanks to the thick skin on their legs. The other creatures that thrive in this lake are endemic algae, a fish known as Acolapia latilabris.
1. Lake Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo is known as the electrical capital of the world. It has the highest concentration of lightning on earth with 250 lightning strikes per square kilometer. The place where Lake Maracaibo joins Catatumbo river lightning strikes during 140 to 160 nights a year. It usually lasts for 7 to 10 hours each day and produces 280 lightning strikes per hour. This bizarre weather phenomenon is known as Catatumbo lightning. This lake has directed boat navigators as a lighthouse for centuries.
Scientists have yet to explain the exact cause of lightning. Few of them believe the methane gas is causing this bizarre lightning by strengthening the magnetic field at night while others believe thunderstorms are created when warm Caribbean winds clash with cold winds of the Andes Mountains. In January, 2010 the lightning storm just disappeared for no reason. A few months later it reappeared again in its usual spot.
References:
- Laguna Colorada: Bolivia’s surreal rainbow landscape By Juan Martinez.
- Laguna Colorada by NASA
- Lake Abraham: an ethereal landscape of frozen bubbles By Tulika Bose & Daniel Kavanaugh
- Spotted Lake is the most magical place in Canada: CBC
- Kawah Ijen Volcano by Hobart M. king
- Stunning Electric-Blue Flames Erupt From Volcanoes BY BRIAN CLARK HOWARD
- The Struggle and Strain of Mining “Devil’s Gold” BY COBURN DUKEHART
- 17 of the world’s weirdest water landmarks. CNN
- Lake Hillier: Australia’s Pink Lake and the Story behind It by Christopher McFadden
- Golden Jellyfish
- A lake that turns birds into stone figures. Arabiaweather
- “Lake That Turns Animals to Stone” Not so Deadly as Photos Suggest by Byriley black
- Welcome to worlds most awesomely awful places by Erica Engelhupt
- Lake Maracaibo, lightning capital of the world by Margioni Bermúdez
- Lightning phenomenon vanishes for months, then reappears by MATT GUTMAN and ROBERT RUDMAN