Lonar Crater Lake
Lonar Lake (Marathi: लोणार सरोवर) is a saline soda lake located at Lonar in Buldana district, Maharashtra, India, which was created by a meteor impact during the Pleistocene Epoch. This lake, which lies in a basalt impact structure, is both saline and alkaline in nature. Geologists, ecologists, archaeologists, naturalists and astronomers have reported several studies on the various aspects of this crater lake ecosystem. Lonar Lake has a mean diameter of 1.2 kilometres (3,900 ft) and is about 137 metres (449 ft) below the crater rim. The meteor crater rim is about 1.8 kilometres (5,900 ft) in diameter. The circular depression bears a saline water lake in its central portion. The crater's age is usually estimated to be 52,000 ± 6,000 years (Pleistocene), although a study published in 2010 gives an age of 570,000 ± 47,000 years.
The Smithsonian Institution, the United States Geological Survey, Geological Society of India, and University of Sagar and the Physical Research Laboratory have conducted extensive studies about the site.
Biological nitrogen fixation was discovered in this lake in 2007.
Read more about Lonar Crater Lake: Geographical Features, Geological Origin, Historicity, Religious Setting, By-products of The Lake, Lake Ecosystem, Threats To Lonar Lake, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words crater and/or lake:
“Give me a condor’s quill! Give me Vesuvius’ crater for an inkstand!”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“These beginnings of commerce on a lake in the wilderness are very interesting,—these larger white birds that come to keep company with the gulls.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)