Polski
Issue 16/2025, From the world, In this issue
The world’s strangest lakes: boiling, black, disappearing
Nov
It would seem that each of us knows what a lake looks like – a calm, blue sheet reflecting the sky, surrounded by lush green trees, a place of relaxation and harmony. Yet the world hides bodies of water that go beyond these images. From bubbling cauldrons resembling a hellish soup to a sheet of pitch-black water, these world’s strangest lakes shock and fascinate. Find out where they are and what they hide inside.
The strangest lakes in the world
Boiling Lake (Dominica) – a lake that really boils
On the Caribbean island of Dominica, in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, lies Boiling Lake – a crater filled with almost boiling water. Temperatures of 82-92°C have been recorded at the edges, while the center remains unmeasured – no one has dared to reach it so far. Thick steam rises almost constantly over the surface, and the water bubbles and hisses as if in a giant cauldron.
Boiling Lake is fed by precipitation and small streams flowing into the crater. The water is heated by an active volcanic system beneath the lake floor. Hot gases penetrate through fissures in the rocks, heating the water from below and causing it to boil. For the same reason, the level of the lake and the intensity of the boiling can vary depending on the pressure and volcanic activity below the surface.
Lake Hillier (Australia) – taffy like a fairy tale
Australia’s Middle Island is home to a lake that looks like someone spilled pink paint in the middle of the forest. Lake Hillier impresses with an intense pink color that persists even after the water has been scooped into a bottle.
Although the lake looks artificial, its color is a completely natural phenomenon. The color is the result of a complex of halophilic organisms, including algae of the genus Dunaliella and bacteria and archaeons that produce carotenoids (such as Salinibacter ruber), which thrive in extremely saline environments. The protective pigments produced by these microorganisms give the water its characteristic pink hue.
Lake Balchash (Kazakhstan) – partly fresh, partly salty
In central Kazakhstan lies one of Asia’s largest lakes, Balchash, which is a hydrological rarity. Its western part is almost freshwater, while the eastern part is noticeably more brackish. It is divided by the narrow Uzynaral Strait, creating a natural boundary between two completely different ecosystems.
The Ili River feeds the western, shallower part of the lake, making the water there more turbid and river-like. The eastern, deeper part is less fed and evaporates faster, increasing the salt concentration and giving the reservoir a bluer emerald hue. The result? Two different biological zones – one side is dominated by freshwater fish, while the other may have species that tolerate salinity better. In satellite images, the contrast between these parts can be seen very clearly.
Pitch Lake (Trinidad) – a black lake made of asphalt
On the Caribbean island of Trinidad, near the town of La Brea, is Pitch Lake – the largest natural deposit of asphalt on Earth. Instead of water, it is filled with a thick, black mass that resembles tar. Its surface is constantly renewing and slowly moving. The lake was formed as a result of long-term outflows of bitumen from deeper layers of the earth through tectonic fractures. The lighter hydrocarbon fractions evaporated over time, leaving a thick, viscous substance. Gases from the earth’s interior still float in this mass, and the structure remains semi-liquid.
Asphalt from the lake has been used for road construction since the 17th century – including in cities in North America and Europe, including around London’s Buckingham Palace Road. Today, Pitch Lake is not only a source of industrial raw material, but also a geological wonder of nature. Interestingly, microorganisms capable of living under very limited oxygen conditions have been discovered in this viscous black matter.
Lake Manicouagan (Canada) – a crater after a cosmic collision
In northeastern Quebec lies Lake Manicouagan, a reservoir with a remarkably regular, annular shape that, from a bird’s eye view, looks like a huge rim with an island in the middle. Today’s lake is largely an artificial reservoir created in the 1960s as part of the Hydro-Québec hydroelectric system (including the Daniel-Johnson Dam). Its unusual form, however, reflects a much older geological history. Manicouagan is a water-filled portion of one of the best-preserved impact structures on Earth.
About 214 million years ago, a meteoroid with an estimated diameter of about 5 km struck the Earth’s surface, forming a crater originally nearly 100 km in diameter. A central elevation, typical of large impact craters, is visible in the center – today it is the vast island of Île René-Levasseur, surrounded by a water ring.
Don Juan Pond (Antarctica) – a lake that doesn’t freeze over
In the dry valleys of McMurdo in Antarctica is Don Juan Pond – a small, extremely saline reservoir, one of the saltiest in the world. It is only 3 hectares in size, and its water is 95 percent calcium chloride. As a result, it doesn’t freeze even at -50°C, despite the permafrost around it.
It was discovered in 1961 and immediately attracted the attention of scientists. Its extreme chemical composition makes it one of the driest and also the saltiest places on Earth. Studies of the microorganisms living in this brine are helping astrobiologists understand what life on Mars could be like.
Loughareema (Northern Ireland) – appears and disappears
In Northern Ireland’s County Antrim, near the village of Ballycastle, lies one of Europe’s most mysterious lakes – Loughareema, commonly referred to as the disappearing lake. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that the water in the basin appears and disappears in a completely natural way, and this cycle can change the landscape in just a few hours.
This phenomenon is due to the geological structure of the area. The bottom of the reservoir is formed by porous rocks and sediments with natural drainage channels. Under normal conditions, water from three tributaries – small streams from nearby hills – flows underground through openings in the lake bed. Over time, however, these can become clogged with silt, leaves and fine sediment. When the outflow is blocked, water quickly accumulates in the depression until it fills the entire lake – after heavy rainfall even within a few hours. When the water pressure increases, the blockage is flushed out and the water rapidly drains underground and further into the river system (including the Carey River), making it appear as if the lake has simply disappeared.
MAIN PHOTO: Grueslayer/Wikimedia
