Lake Thetis is a
saline coastal lake in the
Mid West
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
region of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. The lake is situated east of the small town
Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...
, inland from the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
, on a
Quaternary
The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...
limestone pavement.
The lake is part of
Nambung National Park
Nambung National Park is a national park in the Wheatbelt (Western Australia), Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 200 km northwest of Perth, Australia and 17 km south of the small coastal town of Cervantes, Western Australia, Cervan ...
.
Stromatolites, algal mats and fauna
The lake is one of only a few places in the world with living marine
stromatolite
Stromatolites () or stromatoliths () are layered sedimentary formations (microbialite) that are created mainly by photosynthetic microorganisms such as cyanobacteria, sulfate-reducing bacteria, and Pseudomonadota (formerly proteobacteria). The ...
s. The Lake Thetis stromatolites exhibit unusual columnar branching. These narrow, closely spaced and almost parallel columns are extremely rare in modern stromatolites.
Alongside the stromatolites, a diverse array of benthic microbial communities, such as algal mats, inhabit various layers of the lake. Some of these algal mats are associated with the stromatolites while most confine themselves to a particular area such as the high foreshore areas, splash zone or the central basin of the lake.
The lake water is alkaline and nutrient poor but provides an ideal environment for bottom dwelling microbial communities. The lake contains some small fish, amphipods and a few crustacean species adapted to living in highly saline environments.
The stromatolite community is threatened by nutrient enrichment and physical crushing. An interim recovery plan is currently being written which will provide direction to further protect this extremely valuable community for future generations.
Recent development
In March 2008, a new entry road and car park, as well as walkways on the shore of the lake were constructed. There is also a 1.5 km walk trail around the lake. Additionally, a disused rubbish pit on the northern side of the lake is being rehabilitated and this has eliminated threats associated with rubbish disposal.
See also
*
List of lakes of Western Australia
The following lists of lakes of Western Australia are arranged alphabetically:
* List of lakes of Western Australia, A–C (plus numerals)
* List of lakes of Western Australia, D–K
* List of lakes of Western Australia, L–P
* List of lakes of ...
References
{{Reflist
Thetis
Thetis (; grc-gre, Θέτις ), is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, or one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus.
When described as ...