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). In many cases, salt lakes have a higher concentration of salt than sea water. Impact from a water drop causes an upward rebound jet surrounded by circular capillary waves. ... A magnified crystal of a salt (halite/sodium chloride) Salt covering the floor of Bad Water in Death Valley, CA, the lowest point in the US. A salt, in chemistry, is defined as the product formed from the neutralisation reaction of acids and bases. ... Jordanian and Israeli salt evaporation ponds at the south end of the Dead Sea Sodium chloride, also known as common salt, table salt, or halite, is a chemical compound with the formula NaCl. ... The milligram (symbol mg) is an SI unit of mass. ... A magnified crystal of a salt (halite/sodium chloride) Salt covering the floor of Bad Water in Death Valley, CA, the lowest point in the US. A salt, in chemistry, is defined as the product formed from the neutralisation reaction of acids and bases. ... The liter (spelled liter in American English and litre in Commonwealth English) is a unit of volume. ...

Formation

Salt lakes form when the water flowing into the lake, containing salt or minerals, cannot leave because the lake is endorheic or terminal. The water then evaporates, leaving behind any dissolved salts and thus increasing its salinity, making a salt lake an excellent place for salt production. The shores of Lake Hart, an endorheic desert lake in South Australia In geography, an endorheic basin—also called a terminal or closed 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... 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). ... Annual mean sea surface salinity for the World Ocean. ...

High salinity will also lead to a unique flora and fauna in the lake in question.

When the water is gone

The Bonneville Salt Flats.

If the amount of water flowing into a lake is less than the amount evaporated, the lake will eventually disappear and leave a salt flat or playa (sometimes also referred to as salt pan). Image File history File links Saltph26. ... Image File history File links Saltph26. ... Bonneville Salt Flats The Bonneville Salt Flats are a 121 km² (47 mi²) salt flat in northwestern Utah. ... The playa and shore of Lake Hart, an endorheic desert lake in South Australia An alkali flat (known in US and Mexico as a playa) is a dry lakebed, generally the shore of, or remnant of, an endorheic lake. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with salt pan (geology). ... A salt pan is a geological formation found in deserts. ...

Records

Satellite image of the Caspian Sea.

In order, the four largest salt lakes in the world are the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea, Lake Balkhash and Great Salt Lake, which is also the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The salt lake with the highest elevation is Namtso, and the one with the lowest elevation is the Dead Sea, which is also the lowest exposed point on the Earth's surface. Download high resolution version (550x700, 66 KB)Description: This is a view from orbit of the Caspian Sea as imaged by the MODIS sensor on the Terra satellite. ... Download high resolution version (550x700, 66 KB)Description: This is a view from orbit of the Caspian Sea as imaged by the MODIS sensor on the Terra satellite. ... The Caspian Sea (Russian: Каспийское море; Kazakh: Каспий теңізі; Turkmen: Hazar deňizi; Azeri: XÉ™zÉ™r dÉ™nizi; Persian: دریای خزر Daryā-ye Khazar) is the largest lake on Earth by area[2], with a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers (143,244 sq mi) and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers (18... The Caspian Sea (Russian: Каспийское море; Kazakh: Каспий теңізі; Turkmen: Hazar deňizi; Azeri: XÉ™zÉ™r dÉ™nizi; Persian: دریای خزر Daryā-ye Khazar) is the largest lake on Earth by area[2], with a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers (143,244 sq mi) and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers (18... The Aral Sea (Kazakh: Арал Теңізі (Aral Tengizi), Uzbek: , Russian Аральскοе мοре) is a landlocked endorheic sea in Central Asia; it lies between Kazakhstan in the north and Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan, in the south. ... 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. ... Great Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah, is the largest salt lake in the Western Hemisphere,[1] the fourth largest terminal lake in the world,[2] and the 33rd largest lake on Earth. ... The geographical western hemisphere of Earth, highlighted in yellow. ... Basic Definition In geography, the elevation of a geographic location is its height above mean sea level (or some other fixed point). ... Pastoral nomads camping near Namtso (2005) Namtso (Nam Tso, Nam Co; 30°42′N 90°33′E) is a mountain lake in central Tibet. ... The Dead Sea (Hebrew: ), (Arabic: ), is the Earths lowest point not covered by water or ice, at 418 m (1,371 feet) below sea level and falling,[2] and the deepest hypersaline lake in the world, at 330 m (1,083 feet) deep. ... Adjectives: Terrestrial, Terran, Telluric, Tellurian, Earthly Atmosphere Surface pressure: 101. ...

References

• Lecture notes on salt lakes