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| Water salinity |
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| Salinity levels |
| Fresh water (< 0.05%) Brackish water (0.05–3%) Saline water (3–5%) Brine (> 5% up to 26%–28% max) |
| Bodies of water |
Ahypersaline lake is a landlockedbody of water that contains significantconcentrations ofsodium chloride,brines, and othersalts, withsaline levels surpassing those ofocean water (3.5%, i.e. 35 grams per litre or 0.29 pounds per US gallon).
Specific microbial species can thrive in high-salinity environments[1] that are inhospitable to most lifeforms,[2] including some that are thought to contribute to the color ofpink lakes.[3][4] Some of these species enter a dormant state whendesiccated, and some species are thought to survive for over 250 million years.[2]
The water in hypersaline lakes has greatbuoyancy due to its high salt content.[5]
Hypersaline lakes are found on every continent, especially inarid orsemi-arid regions.[1]
In theArctic, the CanadianDevon Ice Cap contains twosubglacial lakes that are hypersaline.[6] InAntarctica, there are larger hypersaline water bodies, lakes in theMcMurdo Dry Valleys such asLake Vanda with salinity of over 35% (i.e. 10 times as salty as ocean water).[citation needed]
The most saline water body in the world is theGaet'ale Pond, located in theDanakil Depression inAfar, Ethiopia. The water of Gaet'ale Pond has asalinity of 43%, making it thesaltiest water body on Earth[7] (i.e. 12 times as salty as ocean water). Previously, it was considered that the mostsaline lake outside of Antarctica wasLake Assal,[8] inDjibouti, which has a salinity of 34.8% (i.e. 10 times as salty as ocean water). The best-known hypersaline lakes are theDead Sea (34.2% salinity in 2010) and theGreat Salt Lake in the state ofUtah, US (5–27% variable salinity). TheDead Sea, dividingIsrael and theWest Bank fromJordan, is the world's deepest hypersaline lake. The Great Salt Lake, while having nearly three times the surface area of the Dead Sea, is shallower and experiences much greater fluctuations in salinity. At its lowest recorded water levels, it approaches 7.7 times the salinity of ocean water, but when its levels are high, its salinity drops to only slightly higher than that of the ocean.[9][10][11]
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