Milky Soda Lake: Stunning Swirls from Space
Mysterious milky Swirls in Lake Van, Turkey, Explained
Stunning satellite images have revealed peculiar, milky swirls in Turkey’s Lake Van, but these aren’t caused by the usual suspects - algal blooms. While similar patterns often arise from rapidly multiplying plankton caught in wind-driven currents, the swirls in Lake Van have a different origin.
According to NASA’s Earth Observatory, the milky material is primarily composed of calcium carbonate, along with smaller amounts of detritus - waste organic material from living and dead animals. These swirls are known as “turbidity plumes,” clouds of suspended material created by disturbances to the lake floor,whether natural or human-caused.
The shallower waters in this particular area of Lake Van, which otherwise reaches a maximum depth of around 1,450 feet (450 m), make it more susceptible to these plumes.
[Image of Lake Van with milky swirls, credited to Getty Images. Caption: Lake Van is the world’s largest alkaline lake, or “soda lake,” and has a pH of around 10.]
Lake Van is also notable for being the world’s largest alkaline lake,or “soda lake,” with a pH of around 10. Furthermore, it boasts one of Earth’s highest concentrations of ”microbialite” – free-floating organo-sedimentary structures formed by microbes trapping and precipitating minerals.
Related: See all the best images of Earth from space