Lac de Gafsa, also called 'Mysterious Lake', appeared unexpectedly in 2014 alongside Om Laryes Road, 25 kilometers from the town of

Gafsa Gafsa ( aeb, ڨفصة '; ar, قفصة qafṣah), originally called Capsa in Latin, is the capital of Gafsa Governorate of Tunisia. It lends its Latin name to the Mesolithic Capsian culture. With a population of 111,170, Gafsa is the ninth-la ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. The origin or formation of the lake is not clear. The most likely explanation is that a minor

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

had ruptured the rock above the

water table The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...

sending millions of cubic meters of water up to the surface.

Reactions

Since the lake was discovered by desert shepherds, Lake de Gafsa has become a curiosity for locals, and an overnight international tourist sensation. Hundreds have gone just to see the lake, to dive off the picturesque rocks and swim in the lake, and/or scuba dive in it since its discovery. Tunisian people living in the drought-ridden desert area of the Lake de Gafsa call its creation and appearance a miracle or curse.

Radioactivity tests

The area is rich in

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...

and there are fears the water could be

carcinogenic A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive substan ...

as it might contain radioactive residue. , the water was undergoing testing by experts for contamination; however, at that time there was no official ban from swimming in the new lake. The lake, which is estimated to be between 18 and 20 meters (59 to 65 feet) deep, has changed from its clear turquoise blue color (as discovered) to a slightly murky green, meaning the fresh flow of water has ceased and the water is now stagnant.

References

Lakes of Tunisia {{Tunisia-stub