Maharashtra, India – The 50,000 year old lake in India known as the Lonar Crater Lake mysteriously changed its color to a reddish-pink in the past few days.
The nature enthusiasts and scientists are shocked about what caused the lake having a mean diameter of 1.2 kilometres to change its color from greenish color to a reddish-pink.
Although an exact reason as to why the lake changes its colors is yet to be known, Experts believe that the change is likely caused by the increased salinity, the presence of algae or due to a combination of both in the water body.
Experts stated that this is not the first time the lake has changed its colors, it is said that the lake tends to change its colors every year during the rainy season, however, it is noticed that the color of the lake turned particularly red this year, making it more glaring unlike the years before.
“The amount of water in the lake has reduced and the lake has become shallower, so the salinity has gone up and caused some internal changes.”, stated a local geologist, Gajanan Kharat.
He also mentioned that the researchers are currently investigating if the change in the color of the lake changed due to the presence of red algae in the lake.
“The uniqueness of this lake is that it is alkaline as well as saline at the same time, and the water level parameters change as we move from one end to the other making it a complex ecosystem home to large biodiversity,” stated the principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), Maharashtra, Nitin Kakodkar.
The oval-shaped Lonar Lake located 500 kilometres east of Mumbai is a popular tourist attraction which also tends to attract scientists around the world. It was said to be created over 50,000 years ago when a meteorite hit the Earth.
