Lake Salda is a mid-size

crater lake Crater Lake (Klamath language, Klamath: ''Giiwas'') is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The ...

in southwestern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, within the boundaries of

Yeşilova Yeşilova is a town in Burdur Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia ...

district of

Burdur Province Burdur Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey, located in the southwest and bordering Muğla and Antalya to the south, Denizli to the west, Afyon to the north, and Isparta to the east. It has an area of 6,887 km2 and a population of 258, ...

. It lies at a distance of about fifty kilometers to the west from the province seat

Burdur Burdur is a city in southwestern Turkey. The seat of Burdur Province, it is located on the shore of Lake Burdur. Its estimated 2010 population is 78,389. History Ancient history Whilst there is evidence of habitation in the province dating b ...

. Lake Salda is often included in the

Turkish Lakes Region The Turkish Lake District or Turkish Lakeland ( tr, Göller Yöresi) is an area with a series of shallow tectonic lakes within the folds of the Taurus Mountains in Southwestern Anatolia, TurkeyDominic Whiting (2001) "Turkey Handbook", p. 439/ref> ...

that extends across inner western to southern

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, especially

Isparta Province Isparta Province ( tr, ) is a province in southwestern Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Afyon to the northwest, Burdur to the southwest, Antalya to the south, and Konya to the east. It has an area of 8,993 km2 and a population of 448,298 ...

and

Afyonkarahisar Province Afyonkarahisar Province ( tr, ), also called more simply Afyon Province, is a province in western Turkey. Adjacent provinces are Kütahya to the northwest, Uşak to the west, Denizli to the southwest, Burdur to the south, Isparta to the sout ...

, although Lake Salda is geographically separate from the larger lakes, which are more to the east and, being a crater lake, is morphologically different from these tectonic lakes. The lake area covers 4,370

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...

, and its depth reaches 196 meters, making it one of the deeper lakes in Turkey, if not the deepest. The lake sedimentary records show high resolution climate changes that are related to solar variability during the last millennium. The lake is a popular excursion spot for people across the region or from beyond, the more so due to the

hydromagnesite Hydromagnesite is a hydrated magnesium carbonate mineral with the formula Mg5(CO3)4(OH)2·4H2O. It generally occurs associated with the weathering products of magnesium containing minerals such as serpentine or brucite. It occurs as incrustations ...

mineral found in its coastal waters, which is believed to offer remedies for certain

dermatological Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medical ...

diseases. The shorelines, surrounded by black pine forests, are also popular among hunters, the game and the fowl available including

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New Wor ...

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

es,

boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is no ...

s and wild

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

s, aside from the lake's fish. White sandy beaches, limpid water and seven crystal-white islets within the lake complete the scenery. A township that starts almost at the shore to the southwest of the lake carries the same name, Salda. The local administrative seat of

is located to the east of the lake at a distance of about four kilometers and Yeşilova municipality manages the lake's camping facilities. Its peculiar morphology has led to a number of academic studies conducted on Lake Salda. The unusual alkaline nature of the lake means that is one of the few locations where ancient

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 ...

algae still grows.

Microbialites from Lake Salda in the search for extraterrestrial life

PIA24374-Mars-SearchForLife-LakeSaldaTurkey-20210127

In 2019, a team of planetary scientists from the United States and Turkey conducted research on Lake Salda's shoreline

microbialite Microbialite is a benthic sedimentary deposit made of carbonate mud (particle diameter < 5 μm) that is formed with the mediation of microbes. The constituent carbonate mud is a type of

These microbialites were once a major form of life on Earth and provide some of the oldest known fossilized records of life on our planet.

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Mars 2020 Mars 2020 is a Mars rover mission forming part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program that includes the rover ''Perseverance'', the small robotic, coaxial helicopter '' Ingenuity'', and associated delivery vehicles. Mars 2020 was launched from Ear ...

mission

Perseverance Perseverance may refer to: Behaviour * Psychological resilience * Perseverance of the saints, a Protestant Christian teaching * Assurance (theology) Geography * Perseverance, Queensland, a locality in Australia * Perseverance Island, Seychelles * ...

rover Rover may refer to: People * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Places * Rover, Arkansas, US * Rover, Missouri, US * ...

searches for signs of ancient life on the surface of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

. Studying these microbial fossils from Lake Salda has helped scientists prepare for the mission. In March 2021, NASA reported that its Mars surface-exploring rover Perseverance showed that "the minerals and rock deposits at Lake Salda are the nearest match on Earth to those around the

Jezero Crater Jezero is a crater on Mars in the Syrtis Major quadrangle, about in diameter. Thought to have once been flooded with water, the crater contains a fan- delta deposit rich in clays. The lake in the crater was present when valley networks were for ...

where the spacecraft landed."

Lake Salda National Park

Hoping to protect the Lake Salda area, Turkey's environmental authority has launched a national park project. The Lake Salda National Park is currently under construction and is scheduled to be completed in 2023. A 24-hour livestream of the lake can be seen on its official website.

Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salda Yeşilova District Lakes of Turkey Volcanic crater lakes Endorheic lakes of Asia Landforms of Burdur Province Important Bird Areas of Turkey