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Geology News
Lakes Current Events

The salinity of a lake increases when water evaporates, or is otherwise removed. Francisco Suarez of the University of Nevada is creating a desalination and distillation system that runs on solar power.

This photo shows the Ounianga Lakes, a collection of freshwater lakes in the Sahara Desert. Once a sizeable lake thousands of years ago, the Ounianga has shrunken over time and become sectioned off by sand dunes.

NASA’s Earth Observatory has a satellite image of a harmful algal bloom swirling over the surface of Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. The bloom is thought to be in response to sewage contamination, deforestation runoff and agricultural runoff.

The former port of Aralsk was recently 60 miles from the shoreline of the Aral Sea. However, a dam built by the World Bank and Kazakh government is causing the water to rise – Aralsk is now 15.5 miles from the shoreline.

More and more people are building homes next to natural or man-made water bodies. When nutrient levels and other conditions are right these lakes and canals can host heavy blooms of blue-green algae. These can result in objectionable odors and illness or death of people and animals that come in contact with the algae. A growing number of states now have programs to monitor the problem and educate. This program at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services is an example. Here is another at the Oregon Department of Human Services.

Phosphorus from lawn fertilizers can eventually make its way into lakes and rivers, causing problems. Researchers at the University of Michigan have found that a reduction in the use of these fertilizers has had a positive impact on the waters of Ann Arbor.

Here is a gallery of ten spectacular images of lakes at various worldwide locations. In addition to the impressive photos, each lake has at least one unusual attribute. You have probably not heard of most of these.

A New York Times article reports that Uganda and Kenya are threatening war over Migingo Island in Lake Victoria – which is crossed by their international boundary. The science story in that article is about how climate change is impacting the lake and that brings the boundary dispute into focus.

A 350-meter long section of shoreline along Lake Concordia, near Nachterstedt, Germany collapsed. Four people who might have been sleeping in the house are missing.

Sinkholes formed by solution in the floor of the United States’ Great Lakes host unusual ecosystems different from other parts of the lake just a short distance away. The sinkholes are often locations where water that has been underground for millions of years discharges with extreme amounts of dissolved metals.

USGS published: Water Quality and Evaluation of Pesticides in Lakes in the Ridge Citrus Region of Central Florida. This report presents the results of a water sampling program of lakes in the citrus growing part of the state.

“Consistent detections of parents and degradates in quarterly samples indicated the presence of pesticide compounds in the lakes many months or years after their application, signaling the persistence of some pesticide compounds in the lakes and/or ground-water systems.”

What is the best way to dispose of waste from mines? The Supreme Court is allowing a gold mine in Alaska to deposit their waste rock into Lower Slate Lake. Environmentalists do not agree with this decision.

Core samples from Peruvian lakes have revealed that mercury had been mined in the area over 3,000 years ago. It may have been used for red vermillion dyes.

Archaeologists from Colorado State University have been exploring Apupato Island, located in Lake Patzcuaro, Mexico. They believe it was once inhabited by important members of the Purepecha people during the Tarascan Empire.

Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world. Climate change is making weather there milder, shortening ice cover and increasing precipitation. These changes modify the lake’s algae which are the base of the food chain.

A fireball that fell to Earth on March 15, 2009 near Lake Simcoe, Ontario has triggered a meteorite hunt. This article includes instructions for identifying meteorites and provides contact information for meteorite scientists.

Learn about meteorites.

The Lake Tahoe region, which lies between California and Nevada, is an area where magnitude 7.0 earthquakes have occurred in the past. A recurrence of that magnitude of earthquake could produce a damaging tsunami in Lake Tahoe.

A 5.6 magnitude earthquake shook Mexico City yesterday frightening many people but causing little damage. The earthquake was located over 100 miles away but Mexico City felt significant shaking because it is located on lake sediments.

Exceptional flooding in South Australia is raising the level of Lake Eyre, attracting tens of thousands of waterbirds such as pelicans, spoonbills, egrets, cormorants, banded stilts and others. Lake Eyre is normally a vast salt flat but rarely floods to form a lake.

This video explains how a geothermal home heating/air-conditioning system works and visits an installation project near the New York Finger Lakes. A 30% federal tax credit should help convince many homeowners to make an investment in geothermal.