Lake Magenta is an
ephemeral
Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...
salt lake
A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...
in the
Wheatbelt area 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 located north-east of
Jerramungup and east of
Pingrup
Pingrup is a small town in the Great Southern (Western Australia), Great Southern region of Western Australia.
The name of the town is Indigenous Australian in origin and was the name of a lake that is close to the townsite. The meaning of Ping ...
.
The lake is part of the
Lake Magenta Nature Reserve as is the bushland to the west of the lake. The area is in relatively pristine condition and contains a rich array of
flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''.
E ...
and
fauna
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...
.
Water quality
Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...
and the health of vegetation has begun to decline in the area as
salinity
Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...
of
surface runoff
Surface runoff (also known as overland flow) is the flow of water occurring on the ground surface when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil. This can occur when th ...
has increased and
groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...
levels have risen.
Lake Magenta has a wetland area located to the south, and is on the southern end of an chain of lakes from Lake Biddy in the north, through Lake Stubbs (and the town of
Newdegate), Lake Buchan and Lake Lockhart. There are three other lakes nearby to the east: Lake Morris, Lake Royston and Lake Cobham.
The lake is a broad flat-floored valley with long paleo-drainages to the north and more steeply incised drainage lines to the south. The soils in the area are described as siliceous and calcareous
loam
Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...
y soils of minimal development. The rest of the area is composed of hard and sandy
alkaline
In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a base (chemistry), basic, ionic compound, ionic salt (chemistry), salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as ...
yellow and mottled sands.
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
Magenta
Magenta () is a color that is variously defined as pinkish- purplish-red, reddish-purplish-pink or mauvish-crimson. On color wheels of the RGB (additive) and CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located exactly midway between red and blue. I ...
Magenta
Magenta () is a color that is variously defined as pinkish- purplish-red, reddish-purplish-pink or mauvish-crimson. On color wheels of the RGB (additive) and CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located exactly midway between red and blue. I ...