A Lake About 50,000 Years Old In India Turns Pink, Experts Don't Know Why

Lonar Lake in the state of Maharashtra, India has suddenly changed hues in recent days and experts are wondering why.

Experts believe that the change is likely due to either increased salinity in the water, the presence of algae or a combination of both – like parts of Utah’s Great Salt Lake or Lake Hillier in Australia.

Gajanan Kharat, a local geologist, revealed in a video posted to Maharashtra Tourism’s Twitter feed, that this change has occured before, but was not as prominent.

“It’s looking particularly red this year because this year the water’s salinity has increased,” he said. “The amount of water in the lake has reduced and the lake has become shallower, so the salinity has gone up and caused some internal changes.”

Kharat said that researchers are also investigating if the presence of red algae caused the color change.

Samples are on their to several labs, he said, and “once they have studied it we will be able to definitively say why the lake’s water has turned red.”

The lake is located about 500 kilometers (311 miles) east of Mumbai, formed after a meteorite hit the Earth some 50,000 years ago, according to CNN affiliate CNN News 18. It’s a popular tourist attraction and has been studied by scientists across the globe, CNN News 18 reported.

Source:https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/06/11/asia/lake-lonar-pink-india-intl-hnk-scli/index.html