Lonar Lake, also known as Lonar crater Which suddenly turned pink and no one knows the reasons, It is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument,[1][2][3] saline, soda lake, located at Lonar in his Hb Buldhana district, Maharashtra, India. Lonar Lake was created by an asteroid collision with earth impact during the Pleistocene Epoch.[4][5] It is one of the four known, hyper-velocity, impact craters in basaltic rock anywhere on Earth. The other three basaltic impact structures are in southern Brazil.[6] 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.[7]
Lonar Lake
Lonar crater full rim view
Lonar Lake
Location in Maharashtra, India
Location
Buldhana district, Maharashtra, India
Coordinates
19°58′35″N 76°30′30″E
Type
impact crater lake, salt lake
Native name
Basin countries
IndiaMax. length
1,830 m (6,000 ft)
Surface area
1.13 km2 (0.44 sq mi)
Average depth
137 m (449 ft)
Max. depth
150 m (490 ft)
References
Lonar Crater sits inside the Deccan Plateau—a massive plain of volcanic basalt rock created by eruptions some 65 million years ago. Its location in this basalt field suggested to some geologists that it was a volcanic crater. Today, however, Lonar Crater is understood to be the result of a meteorite impact that occurred between 35,000 and 50,000 years ago.[8] The water in the lake is both saline and alkaline.
Geologists, ecologists, archaeologists, naturalists and astronomers have published studies of various aspects of this crater lake ecosystem.[9]
The crater's age is usually estimated to be 52,000 ± 6,000 years,[10] although a study published in 2010 suggests an age of 570,000 ± 47,000 years.[11][12]
The Smithsonian Institution, the United States Geological Survey, Geological Survey of India, the University of Sagar and the Physical Research Laboratory have conducted extensive studies of the site.[13][14] Biological nitrogen fixation was discovered in this lake in 2007.[15] A recent study, conducted by IIT Bombay found that the minerals, in the lake soil, are very similar to the minerals found in moon rock brought back during Apollo Program.[16]
Geographical features Edit
View of the crater from the edge. A temple is visible in the forest underneath.
A series of small hills surround the basin, which has an oval shape, almost round, with a circumference at top of about 8 km (five miles). The sides of the basin rise abruptly at an angle of about 75°. At the base of the sides, the lake has a circumference of about 4.8 km (three miles). The slopes are covered with tree-savannah, housing teak (Tectona grandis), Wrightia tinctoria, Butea monosperma, and Helicteres isora, and with shrub-savannah housing Acacia nilotica and Ziziphus spp.. Along the lake shore, non-native Prosopis juliflora is spreading.[17] Millet, maize, okra, banana, and papaya are the main cultivated crops.
The water of the lake contains various salts and sodas. During dry weather, when evaporation reduces the water level, large quantities of soda are collected. Two small streams, named Purna and Penganga,[18] drain into the lake, and a well of fresh water is located on the southern side, close to the water's edge.[19]
