At first glance Lake Natron, a salt lake in Northern Tanzania looks like your typical African landscape. But look closer and you will find something eerily unusual. Perfectly preserved dead animals scattered all along its shores. And while many have likened the lake to Medusa, the monster from Greek mythology who turned anyone that looked her in the eye to stone.
All salt loving invertebrates thrived in the shallow three meter deep body of water (Lake Natron). The researchers therefore believe that some of the petrified animals died from natural causes and others, because they got confused by the extremely reflective surface of the water and crashed right in. Having said that, everyone agrees that the alkaline water of the lake that has a pH level as high as 10.5 is enough to burn the skin and eyes of animals that aren't adapted to it. The high containment is caused by the unusual lava composition of the neighboring Ol Doinvo, a rare volcano whose lava is not rich in silicate minerals but in natrocarbonatite, a naturally occurring compound that is made up largely of sodium carbonate mixed in with baking soda. Whenever it rains, the minerals and sodium carbonate from the volcano lava flow right into the lake. Since Natron is a terminal lake, meaning that it does not drain out to any river or sea and lies in an area that does not get much rainfall, the concentration of the caustic material remains high and gets to extreme levels during the summers, when most of the water evaporates. The fact that the lake sports a temperature that can exceed 106° F during the warm season, probably does not help either.
What's even more interesting is that besides impairing the living tissue, the caustic lake also helps perfectly preserve the dead body of the animal or bird as it dries, similar to how lots of amounts of sodium carbonate helped maintain ancient Egyptians. As a result, the lake is surrounded by a number of rather eerie looking petrified wildlife.
Amazing story...excellent!
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