Lake Urmia is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is located between the provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan in Iran, and west of the southern portion of the Caspian Sea. At its greatest extent, it was the largest lake in the Middle East and the sixth-largest saltwater lake on Earth, with a surface area of approximately 5,200 km2 (2,000 sq mi), a length of 140 km (87 mi), a width of 55 km (34 mi), and a maximum depth of 16 m (52 ft).
Lake Urmia from space in 1984
Lake Urmia, NW Iran, September 2015
People visiting a boat on Lake Urmia
On holidays people come to see Lake Urmia around the "Shahid Kalantari" highway that still has water. The 15 km highway was constructed by drying 85% of the boundary between the western and eastern sides of the lake. Construction of the highway has disconnected the northern and southern halves of the lake and has made natural and fundamental changes in the hydrodynamic and ecological characteristics of the lake region.
An endorheic lake is a collection of water within an endorheic basin, or sink, with no evident outlet. Endorheic lakes are generally saline as a result of being unable to get rid of solutes left in the lake by evaporation. These lakes can be used as indicators of anthropogenic change, such as irrigation or climate change, in the areas surrounding them. Lakes with subsurface drainage are considered cryptorheic.
Death Valley, Spring 2005: ephemeral Lake Badwater in the flooded Badwater Basin
Example of anthropogenic effects on the Aral Sea
The Great Salt Lake (an endorheic lake) in Utah, taken from the ISS.
