Today, depending on recent rainfall, the viscous water has an average pH of 9–11, making it almost as caustic as ammonia when the level is very low, and it can reach a temperature of up to 60☌ in extreme circumstances. The alkaline level has also increased drastically over the millennia, partially because of the high salinity of ash and lava deposits from Lengai, partially because the lake’s only known outlet is evaporation. Nowhere more than 50cm deep, it has changed shape significantly since that time, largely as a result of volcanic activity associated with the creation of Ol Doinyo Lengai to its immediate south. Thought to be about 1.5 million years old, Natron is a product of the same tectonic activity that formed the Ngorongoro Highlands and Mount Gelai, the latter being a 2,941m-high extinct volcano that rises from the eastern lakeshore. Then there is the lake itself, a thrillingly primordial phenomenon whose caustic waters are enclosed by a crust of sodden grey volcanic ash and desiccated salt, punctuated by isolated patches of steamy, reed-lined swamp where the hot springs that sustain the lake bubble to the surface. The Natron skyline is dominated by the textbook volcanic silhouette of Ol Doinyo Lengai, which rises more than 2km above the surrounding Rift Valley floor to an altitude of 2,960m, its harsh black contours softened by an icing of white ash that glistens brightly below the sun, as if in parody of Kilimanjaro’s snows. And so, too, is the most northerly landmark in the Tanzanian Rift Valley, the low-lying Lake Natron, a shallow sliver of exceptionally alkaline water that extends southward from the Kenyan border near Mount Shompole for 58km. For more information, see our Tanzania Safari Guide. Ethiopia’s Danakil Desert is one such spot the volcanic Virunga Range in the Albertine Rift is another. But what actually happens is that the corpses of animals which died in the lake are sometimes preserved by the sodium carbonate minerals and other salts that were used by the ancient Egyptians for mummification - calcifying their bodies.There are but a handful of places where the Rift Valley evokes its geologically violent origins with graphic immediacy.
More than 2 million lesser flamingos use the lake as their primary breeding ground in Africa.īut when animals die and end up in the water, something odd happens: it looks like living animals turned to stone instantly on hitting the lake. Karumbaįlocks of flamingos, other birds and tilapia fish all call the lake their home. Lesser flamingoes flock to Lake Natron in their droves for breeding season Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. While it may be paradise for haloarchaea, many creatures can't survive in such alkaline waters – but animals whose bodies are adapted to such pH levels also inhabit the lake, meaning Lake Natron is far from barren. The reason for the lake’s colorful water is down to haloarchaea, microorganisams that flourish in its salty waters – the vermillion shade is even more stunning at the end of the dry season, when the water level is especially low. The stunning red color is caused by haloarchaea, microorganisms which love salty water Image: imago/Bluegreen Pictures/J.-C. The water comes from mineral hot springs and a river, but the lake doesn't drain out to any sea or river – evaporation is how the shallow lake loses water, which can reach as high as 41 degrees Celsius (106 degrees Fahrenheit). The lake actually takes its name from the naturally-occurring blend of chemicals it contains. This raises the lake's alkalinity to far above water's normal neutral pH of 7. Lake Natron's very alkaline water has a pH of around 10.5 - too high for many animals Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Mary Evans Picture Library/A. Ol Doinyo Lengai, an active volcano, lies not far from the lake. It owes its unusual chemistry to the surrounding volcanic geology: the minerals, particularly sodium carbonate, and salts created by volcanic processes flow into the lake from the surrounding hills. The lake's extremely alkaline water has a pH as high as 10.5, similar to milk of magnesia, a treatment used to neutralize stomach acid.
But when coupled with the sight of dead animals seemingly turned to stone, the lake appears even more eerie. The scarlet waters of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania are eye-catching enough by themselves.
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