Lake Tuz or Tuz Golu is Turkey’s second largest lake. One of the largest hypersaline lakes in the world. Lake Tuz has a surface area of over 1,600 sq km. It is said that salt extracted from the lake is exported to more than 60 countries.
Lake Tuz is a saline lake (Tuz is Turkish for “salt”) located on the Central Anatolia plateau, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) south-southeast of Ankara. It is fed by groundwater that originates in the Northern Taurus Mountains and passes through Konya Plain and Obruk Plateau bubbles up into Lake Tuz via springs. Other sources of water include two major streams, and rain that primarily falls in the springtime. The lake has no outlet.
Water here has become increasingly scarce. The Mediterranean Basin, which includes Turkey, has already seen more frequent and intense droughts, according to a report by the Mediterranean Experts on Climate and Environmental Change. In addition, the Mediterranean Basin is considered a climate change hotspot, having warmed more since the pre-industrial period compared to the global average (1.5°C/2.7°F compared to 1.1°C/2.0°F).
After the year 2000, there was a distinct shift. Between 2001 and 2016, water spanned less than 20 percent of the lake in every August (except 2015) as droughts became more frequent and intense. In 2008 and 2016, the lake completely dried up. Aydin-Kandemir’s current research shows that more recently, extraordinary meteorological drought has devastated Lake Tuz since 2019. The patterns led the scientists to wonder why the lake had become more sensitive to drought after the year 2000. Before that time, Lake Tuz usually contained water even during periods of drought. But something changed.
Credit : Sci Tech Daily
Picture Credit : Google
