The shores of Lake Hart, an endorheic desert lake in South Australia

In geography, an endorheic basin is a watershed from which there is no outflow of water (either on the surface as rivers, or underground by flow or diffusion through rock or permeable material)(also called closed basin). The term has Greek roots, endo, "inside" and rhein, "to flow". Any rain (or other precipitation) that falls inside an endorheic basin remains there permanently, leaving the system only by evaporation. Endorheic basins are also called "internal drainage systems". Lake Hart, South Australia, Novenber 2003 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Lake Hart, South Australia, Novenber 2003 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Emblems: Hairy Nosed Wombat (faunal); Sturts Desert Pea (floral); Opal (gemstone); Leafy Seadragon (marine) Motto: United for the Common Wealth Slogan or Nickname: Festival State Other Australian states and territories Capital Adelaide Government Governor Premier Const. ... For the term related to television programmes, see watershed (television). ... The Murray River in Australia. ... Evaporation is one of the two forms of vaporization. ...

Although, in theory, endorheic basins can occur in any climate, in practice they are most commonly found in hot desert locations. In places with a higher rainfall, the riparian erosion of the water's flow will generally carve drainage channels (particularly in times of flood), breaking through to the larger enclosing hydrological system, and breaking the watershed barrier between the endorheic system and the surrounding terrain. The Black Sea was such a lake, having once been an independent hydrological system in its own right before the Mediterranean Sea broke through the terrain separating the two. Desert view in Saudi Arabia. ... A riparian zone schematic from the Everglades. ... Map of the Black Sea. ... Satellite image The Mediterranean Sea is a part of the Atlantic Ocean almost completely enclosed by land, on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia. ...

In hot deserts, the net inflow is low and loss to solar evaporation high, drastically slowing the formation of complete drainage systems. The closed nature of this water flow often leads to the concentration of salts and other minerals in the lake; minerals leached from the surrounding rocks are deposited in the endorheic basin, and left behind when the water that bore them there evaporates. Thus endorheic basins often contain extensive salt pans (also called salt flats, alkali flats or playas), salt lakes. These areas, which tend to be large, hard surfaced, and fairly flat, are sometimes used for aviation (as large cheap runways) or for breaking land speed records. A salt pan is a geological formation found in deserts. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with salt pan (geology). ... A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water which has a concentration of salts (mostly sodium chloride) and other minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least 3,000 milligrams of salt per liter). ... It has been suggested that Modern Aviation be merged into this article or section. ... Aerial picture of a runway of Chennai International Airport, Tamil Nadu A runway is a strip of land on an airport, on which aircraft can take off and land. ... 1970 land speed record being set at Bonneville Salt Flats by Gary Gabelich Land Speed Records from 1898 The information below is for self-propelled wheeled vehicles travelling over open ground. ...

Both permanent and seasonal endorheic lakes can form in endorheic basins, and some endorheic basins are essentially in stasis, the climate having changed to reduce precipitation to such an extent that a lake no longer forms. Even with endorheic lakes that exist permanently, most change size and shape dramatically over time, often becoming dramatically smaller (or breaking into several smaller parts) during the dry season. As humans have expanded into previously unliveable desert areas, the river systems that feed many endorheic lakes have been altered by the construction of dams and aqueducts. As a result many endorheic lakes in developed or developing countries have contracted dramatically. This often results in dramatic increases in salinity, higher concentrations of pollutants, and the consequent disruption of the lake's ecosystem.

A false-colour satellite photo of Australia's Lake Eyre
Image credit: NASA's Earth Observatory

Download high resolution version (772x772, 159 KB)Credit(s): Goddard Space Flight Center’s Landsat Team and the Australian ground receiving station teams. ... Download high resolution version (772x772, 159 KB)Credit(s): Goddard Space Flight Center’s Landsat Team and the Australian ground receiving station teams. ... Composite satellite image of Lake Eyre using shortwave infrared, near-infrared, and blue wavelengths. ...

Notable endorheic basins and lakes

• Much of western and Central Asia is a single, giant inland basin. It contains a number of lakes, including:
  • The Caspian Sea is the largest lake on Earth.
  • The Aral Sea's tributary rivers have been diverted, leading to a dramatic shrinkage of the lake. The resulting ecological disaster has brought the plight faced by internal drainage basins to public attention.
  • Lake Balkhash is located in Kazakhstan.
  • Issyk Kul is located in Kyrgyzstan.
• The Dead Sea is located in the Middle East.
• Australia's Lake Eyre Basin, the largest endorheic system in the world, includes much of the landmass of the arid inland, and drains into the highly variable Lake Eyre.
• Africa also has many endorheic watersheds.
  • Lake George
  • The Okavango Delta, an endorheic inland delta in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana
  • Lake Ngami in Botswana
  • Lake Chad (between Chad and Cameroon), fed by the Chari and Logon rivers
  • Etosha pan in Namibia's Etosha National Park
• One of the few endorheic lakes in a cold desert location, Antarctica's Lake Vida remains liquid because its salinity is seven times that of seawater.
• The US's Great Basin, which covers much of Nevada and Utah, and includes:
  • The Black Rock Desert in Nevada, location of the Thrust2 and ThrustSSC landspeed record runs, and the annual home to the Burning Man festival
  • Groom Dry Lake in Nevada, location of the secret Area 51 base
  • Utah's Great Salt Lake
  • Pyramid Lake in Nevada
  • Mono Lake in California
• California's Salton Sea, a lake accidentally created in 1905 when irrigation canals ruptured, filling a desert endorheic basin and recreating an ancient saline sea.
• The Great Divide Basin in Wyoming, a small endorheic basin which straddles the Continental Divide.
• Crater Lake in Oregon.
• The Valley of Mexico. In Pre-Columbian times, the Valley was substantially covered with five lakes, including Lake Texcoco and Lake Chalco.

To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Caspian Sea viewed from orbit The Caspian Sea is a landlocked endorheic sea between Asia and Europe (European Russia). ... Map of area around the Aral Sea. ... Lake Balkhash from space, April 1991 Lake Balkhash: NASA image, taken 18 April 2000 by SeaWiFS Lake Balkhash, or Lake Balqash, is a large lake in southeastern Kazakhstan, the second largest in Central Asia after the Aral Sea. ... Issyk Kul (also Ysyk Köl) is an endorheic lake in the northern Tien Shan mountains in northwestern Kyrgyzstan. ... The Jordan River flowing into the Dead Sea The Dead Sea (Arabic البحر الميت, Hebrew ים המלח) is the lowest exposed point on the Earths surface. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... The Lake Eyre Basin drains about one sixth of Australia. ... Composite satellite image of Lake Eyre using shortwave infrared, near-infrared, and blue wavelengths. ... A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ... Lake George may refer to: Cities, towns, townships etc. ... The Okavango Delta is home to many elephants and other creatures. ... The Kalahari Desert (shown in red) The Kalahari Desert is a large arid to semi-arid sandy area in southern Africa extending to some 900,000 km² and covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa. ... Lake Ngami is a lake in Botswana north of the Kalahari desert. ... Lake Chad (in French: Lac Tchad) is a large, shallow lake in Africa. ... The Chari or Shari River is a 949-kilometer-long river of Chad into Lake Chad. ... The Logon River is a major tributary of the Chari River. ... The Etosha pan is a large salt pan in the north of Namibia. ... Etosha National Park in Namibia was first established in 1907, when Namibia was a German colony known as South West Africa. ... Lake Vida is an ice-covered super-concentrated saltwater endorheic lake located in Victoria Valley, one of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica. ... Map showing the Great Basin in orange The Great Basin is a large, arid region of the western United States, commonly defined as the contiguous watershed region, roughly between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, that has no natural outlet to the sea. ... Official language(s) None Capital Carson City Largest city Las Vegas Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 7th 286,367 km² 519 km 788 km 0. ... Official language(s) English Capital Salt Lake City Largest city Salt Lake City Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 13th 219,887 km² 435 km 565 km 3. ... The Black Rock Desert is a dry lake bed in northwestern Nevada in the United States. ... Official language(s) None Capital Carson City Largest city Las Vegas Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 7th 286,367 km² 519 km 788 km 0. ... Thrust2 is a British designed and built jet propelled car, which held the world land speed record between, 1983 and 1997. ... ThrustSSC at Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA. The ThrustSSC is built with highly protected aluminium wheels The team with ThrustSSC. ThrustSSC (SuperSonic Car) is a British designed and built jet propelled car developed by Richard Noble and Ron Ayers, which holds the world land speed record. ... Burning Man is a week-long festival with international draw, held annually on the week prior to and including Labor Day weekend (in early September) in the United States. ... Satellite view of Area 51 from 1968. ... Satellite view of Area 51 from 1968. ... Satellite Photo of the Great Salt Lake as it looked in the summer of 2003 The Great Salt Lake as seen looking north towards Antelope Island from Sunset Beach Great Salt Lake is an endorheic saline lake in northern Utah, much saltier than the ocean. ... Pyramid Lake as seen from the Pah Rah Range Pyramid Lake from space, September 1994 Pyramid Lake and its environs Numaga chief of the Paiutes during the Pyramid Lake Paiute War. ... Mono Lake, showing nearby Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park Mono Lake is an alkaline and hypersaline lake in California, United States that is a critical nesting habitat for several bird species and is one of the most productive ecosystems in North America. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  - Total   - Width   - Length    - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 3rd 158,302 sq mi  410,000 km² 250 miles  400 km 770 miles  1,240 km 4. ... The Salton Sea (with local/regional cities) The Salton Sea is an inland saline lake, located in the Colorado Desert in Southern California, north of the Imperial Valley. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Bluffs in eastern section of the Great Divide Basin The Great Divide Basin (also called the Great Divide Closed Basin) is located in south central Wyoming in the United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Cheyenne Largest city Cheyenne Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 10th 253,554 km² 450 km 580 km 0. ... A continental divide is a line of elevated terrain which forms a border between two watersheds such that water falling on one side of the line eventually travels to one ocean or body of water, and water on the other side travels to another, generally on the opposite side of... [[Imagine:Kyle Webber and his three nips in winter with your mom. ... Official language(s) None Capital Salem Largest city Portland Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 9th 255,026 km² 420 km 580 km 2. ... Anahuac is a plateau in Central Mexico, at a mean elevation of 7580 ft. ... The term Pre-Columbian is used to refer to the cultures of the New World in the era before significant European influence. ... Lake Texcoco is a lake in Mexico. ... Lake Chalco is a lake that was located in the mexican basin. ...

Ancient endorheic basins

Some of the Earth's ancient endorheic systems include:

• the Black Sea, until its merger with the Mediterranean
• Lake Lahontan in the western US
• Ebro and Duero basins, draining most of northern Spain during the Neogene and perhaps Pliocene.
• Lake Bonneville (Utah)

Map of the Black Sea. ... Extent of prehistoric Lake Lahontan For the modern reservoir, see Lake Lahontan (reservoir) Ancient Lake Lahontan was an enormous endorheic lake that existed during the ice age, covering much of northwestern Nevada, extending into northeastern California and southern Oregon. ... The Ebro (Greek: Έβρος, Latin: Iberus, Spanish: Ebro, Catalan: Ebre) is Spains most voluminous and second longest river. ... View of the river mouth from Portos Crystal Palace Gardens, facing West Douro (Latin Durius, Spanish Duero, Portuguese Douro) is one of the major rivers of Portugal and Spain, flowing from its source near Soria across central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Oporto. ... Neogene Period is a unit of geologic time consisting of the Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene epochs. ... The Pliocene epoch (spelled Pleiocene in some older texts) is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5. ... A butte in the Great Salt Lake Desert Lake Bonneville was a prehistoric pluvial lake that covered much of North Americas Great Basin region. ...

External link

• Primer on endorheic lakes