Lonar Lake in Maharashtra mysteriously turns red; officials baffled

Forest officials in Maharashtra are left baffled with the changing colour of the famous Lonar crater lake in Buldhana. The colour of the water has mysteriously turned red, sparking concerns and theories alike. Meanwhile, the forest department has been asked to collect the sample of the water and dig out the reason behind the changing colour of the lake. 

 

"Since the past two-three days, the colour of the lake's water seems to have changed colour. Forest department has been asked to collect a sample for analysis and find out the reason," Lonar tehsildar Saifan Nadaf told news agency ANI. 

 

A report in the Maharashtra Times suggested that the probable reason behind the change of the water's colour could be due to the growth of Halobacteria and fungus Salina. It could also be due to the weather change caused by the cyclonic formation and lowering of Lonar Lake's water level. However, there is no conclusive evidence to support any theory. 

 

Considered a natural wonder, the Lonar Lake was formed 52,000 years ago when a meteor weighing two million tonnes hit the Earth at a speed of 90,000 kmph. The most prominent reptiles found in the Lonar Crater lake are the monitor lizards. Another feature of the lake is the non-symbiotic nitrogen-fixing microbes.

 

Lonar Lake has a mean diameter of 1.2 kilometers and is about 137 meters below the crater rim. The meteor crater rim is about 1.8 kilometers in diameter. It is one of the four known, hyper-velocity, impact craters in basalti rock anywhere on Earth. The other three basaltic impact structures are in southern Brazil.