The saltiest lake.

What is the saltiest lake in the world? The most famous is the Dead Sea in the Middle East, in which, due to the high density of water, it is impossible to drown. But the palm does not belong to him. Several lakes in the world have a salt content higher than the Dead Sea. Here is a list of the most saline lakes in the world:

The most salty

All lakes from the list of the most saline (of course, except for Lake Don Juan) have long been a place of salt mining. Over time, various hospitals have been added to the salt industries, because the microclimate around such lakes has a beneficial effect on the human body, and many diseases can be treated with mud. For example, the salt deposit of Lake Elton began to be regularly developed during the time of Ivan the Terrible, shortly after his conquest of the Astrakhan Khanate. During the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, two routes were laid for the export of salt, and by the decree of the ruling Senate on February 27, 1747, the "Commissioner for the Extraction of Salt" was established.

Since the end of the 19th century, Elton has been of exclusively resort importance, the extraction of salt there has ceased. But Lake Baskunchak combines "two in one". Here not only salt is mined, but also a whole bunch of diseases are treated. Baskunchak's salt is the purest table salt in the world, covering up to 80 percent of the needs of the Russian market.

Lake Baskunchak is also famous for the fact that in the 60s of the last century a track was built on it to establish All-Union speed records. As a result, from 1960 to 1963, 29 records were set, including 19 international ones. The maximum speed was 311.4 km / h. In the future, due to the ongoing development of the salt field and the deterioration of the hydrological situation, the route, where there was a 13-kilometer straight section, was closed.

The Dead Sea is widely known as an international resort; it has the largest area and the most developed infrastructure among the five record holders. Despite this, salt mining continues there today. But the sea level, unlike its Russian counterparts, is regularly declining. However, at great depths, complete shallowing will not come very soon.

Lake Assal in the small African state of Djibouti is located just 5 kilometers from the Indian Ocean and 155 meters below its level. It occupies the crater of an extinct volcano. On the lake, which lies in a very troubled (in a social sense) region of Africa, there is not a single sanatorium. Here, only salt is mined and delivered by caravans to neighboring Ethiopia.

Antarctic phenomenon

Lake Don Juan was discovered in 1961 and named after the helicopter pilots who first discovered it: Don Ro and John Hickey. Obviously, when the name was given, they decided to beat the name of Don Juan, known in literature, and the English "John" was translated into Spanish. At the time of opening, the water temperature was -30 degrees Celsius, but due to the high salt content, the lake did not freeze. Its exact description was received only in the 70s of the last century.

The 1977 handbook indicates that the area of ​​the lake is 0.25 km², and its average depth is about 30 centimeters. Twenty years later, the area and depth of the reservoir have greatly decreased. Today it is just a very large 3 hectare salt puddle with an almost perfectly flat bottom. No life, including bacteria, was found in the lake.

It is located in the region of Antarctica called Victoria Land, in the Wright Valley. The average salinity is 402 ppm, some measurements show a value of 413. Lake Don Juan is described as a point of emergence of groundwater with high salinity. Due to the unique natural conditions - constant strong winds and great dryness of the air - the water evaporates, leaving the brought substances in the reservoir. Due to the high concentration of salt, the lake does not freeze even in a frost of -53 degrees Celsius.

All these reservoirs have a very high salt concentration, more than an order of magnitude higher than the salinity of the World Ocean. Which of them is more worthy of the title of "the saltiest lake in the world"? In absolute terms, this is Elton - 500 ppm. But sometimes, with an abundance of melt water, the lake becomes much fresher, restoring its primacy in dry years. And the Dead Sea, with the continuing shallowing, has good "prospects" after some time to seize the sole leadership. This lake has the greatest depth and area and, as a result, the largest volume of water and the total amount of mineral substances.