Other volcanoes usually spew silicates, but the Ol Doinyo Lengai is the only one on the planet that spills 'natrocarbonatites' as cool, runny, dark washes. Lake Natron is one of Tanzania’s most famous natural attractions. It's a favorite among petrologists because it's the only one of its kind, Hannes Mattsson, a researcher at the Swiss Institute of Technology in Zurich, told NBC News. Nestled between rolling volcanic hills and deep craters, Lake Natron occupies the lowest point of the Rift Valley. The culprit is Ol Doinyo Lengai, a million-year old volcano just south of Lake Natron. Nick Brandt / Courtesy of Hasted Kraeutler Gallery A calcified dove, from Nick Brandt's book Across The Ravaged Land, published by Abrams, New York. How did the lake get this hostile? The 'salt' in it isn't the regular table variety harvested from seawater, but magmatic limestone that's been forged deep in the Earth, poured out in runny lava flows and blasted into the air to become ash clouds 10 miles high. Water levels fluctuate easily because it's so hot - when the levels drop, the corpses are left behind on the shores, coated in salt, exactly how Brandt found them.

Small birds or bats that try and fail to cross the 12- by 30-mile lake fall in, as do insects like beetles and locusts. Flamingos are some of the lucky birds that can make the trip across the lake which is 30-miles wide at its longest point. Lake Natron has been listed on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance due to its unique biodiversity and has also been recognized as an important ecoregion by the World Wildlife Fund.'If a body falls anywhere else it decomposes very quickly, but on the edge of the lake, it just gets encrusted in salt and stays forever,' David Harper, an ecologist at the University of Leicester who has visited Lake Natron four times, told NBC News.

The lake enchants bird watcher’s across the world as large groups of flamingoes can be strutting around, the spectacle often referred to as the ‘pink parade’. The high salinity of the lake ensures maximum food for these birds as they feed on the tilapia and the algae. Lake Natron is the most important breeding site in the world for Lesser Flamingoes as 75 percent of the world’s population of these flamingoes are hatched at the lake. An endemic species of fish, the alkaline tilapia, has adapted to the lake and lives along the edges of its hot spring inlets. It is a drying as well as anti-bacterial agent so immersion in natron can suck all the moisture out of a dead body and preserve it against microorganisms that will feed on it.Īnimals that die here can turn into calcified statues over time, because of the unique chemical makeup of the lake, which encrusts the carcasses with layers of salt, sodium carbonates, and sodium bicarbonates.Īlso Read: Did You Know That World’s Only Floating National Park Is In Manipur? Inhospitable To Most, Thriving A Fewĭespite having the most alkaline waters, Lake Natron supports an ecosystem of salt marshes, freshwater wetlands, flamingos and other wetland birds. The Gelai volcano (9,652 feet 2,942 m) is at the lake’s. The lake’s warm water is an ideal breeding ground for the Rift Valley flamingos. The lake is 35 miles (56 km) long and 15 miles (24 km) wide and contains salt, soda, and magnesite deposits. Natron, after which the lake has been named, is a mineral salt that ancient Egyptians used for the mummification process. Lake Natron, lake in northern Tanzania on the border with Kenya, lying in the East African Rift System, 70 miles (113 km) northwest of Arusha. High levels of evaporation cause natron to be left behind in its bed. Volcanic ash from the Great Rift Valley is collected in its basin, making the lake hostile to most organisms. The water from the lake also does not drain out to any river or sea. Located in an arid region where rainfall is erratic, the terminal lake is fed by hot springs and small rivers. The salty crust, however, changes over time, giving the lake a different appearance each time. The lake gets its reddish hue from salt-loving microorganisms called halophiles that thrive in its alkaline waters and produce reddish pigments, which color the lake’s salt crust red. Also Read: This Lake In Uttarakhand Contains Hundreds Of Skeletons Belonging To 800 AD What Makes Lake Natron Unique?

Natron lake in tanzania