Parts of Turkey's Lake Salda turn into a swamp

Click to read the article in Turkish

Waters have been continuously receding in Lake Salda as a result of the projects damaging the area, as well as drilling and drought.

Home to 301 plant species, Lake Salda was declared a "specially protected environment area" by a presidential decree in March 2019.

However, Murat Kurum, the Minister of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change announced the same year that a "Nation's Garden" would be constructed near the lake.

CLICK - Court Approves Recreational Facility Around Lake Salda: 'It is President's Plan'

As a result of the destruction of the work done in the area, it has been observed that the water is receding and the lake is turning into a swamp.

The Lake Salda Preservation Association stated the following for the video they shared on Twitter:

"Lake Salda receded rapidly, especially in the last three years. The water level did not increase despite the heavy snowfall this winter. Some regions where the water has receded are now turned into a swamp due to the water coming from the mountains. Well-drilling, irrigation ponds around the lake, and drought cause the water level to decrease."

Salda Gölü’nde geçen yıl kamuoyuna duyurduğumuz, tabiat parkında suların çekilmesi sonucu açığa çıkan tepeciğin üstünde insanlar bu yılda istedikleri gibi geziyorlar, tek hücreli siyanobakterilerin fosilleri eziliyor. Salda Gölü’nde yıllar değişse de görüntüler değişmiyor. pic.twitter.com/jQ8vrXt4o2

— Salda Gölü Koruma Derneği (@SaldaDernek) May 15, 2022

About Lake Salda

Şanver İsmailoğlu, a geological engineer, gave the following information on Lake Salda in his article published on bianet:

With a depth of about 185 meters, Salda is the deepest lake in Turkey and the second deepest lake in the world. Lying on a 45-square-kilometer area, Salda is home to seadragons and 110 types of birds.

Because there is a precipitation of MgCO3 (magnesite), there is no vegetation cover on the three sides of the lake. Because of its geological structure, it can shed light on the forming of the first living organisms, and several scientific studies were conducted in the area

Statement from NASA

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) also announced that researchers are using their understanding of Lake Salda in Turkey to help guide the Mars 2020 mission, which will drop the Perseverance rover into the crater to search for signs of ancient life.

According to NASA researchers, Turkey's Lake Salda shares similar mineralogy and geology as the dry Martian lakebed and it is, in fact, "the only known lake on Earth that contains the carbonates and depositional features (deltas) similar to those found at Jezero Crater."

The #CountdownToMars is on! We can hardly believe that the @NASAPersevere rover is just ONE day from touching down in Jezero Crater. ????

No one has set foot in the crater, but we have some ideas of what to expect thanks to Lake Salda in #Turkey. ???? https://t.co/x2MdicoEmX pic.twitter.com/2EpqAZctDn

— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) February 17, 2021

CLICK: NASA: Lake Salda in Turkey is similar to Jezero Crater on Mars

(TY/TB/VK)