Why is the water in Chaka Salt Lake called a mirror?

Because the water in Chaka Salt Lake contains a lot of salt, it will naturally crystallize into a white lake, reflecting the sky, clouds and mountains on the other side in the lake, just like a mirror.

Since Holocene, Chaka Salt Lake began to shrink and salt deposition appeared. Even in the climate suitable period of the Middle Holocene, Chaka Salt Lake still showed a further shrinking state. In the late Holocene, the shrinkage and salinization of salt lakes further intensified. Temperature plays an important role in the formation and evolution of Chaka Salt Lake. Compared with the Late Glaciation, the increase of Holocene temperature led to the increase of salt lake evaporation much more than the increase of precipitation.

Due to plate movement, the boundary between the Eurasian plate and the Indian Ocean plate, which was originally covered by seawater, gradually rose to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. During the formation of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, some seawater remained in low-lying areas, forming many salt lakes and ponds, among which Chaka Salt Lake is one.

Extended data

Chaka Salt Lake is located in Wulan County, Qinghai Province, between 99 02 ′ ~ 99 02 ′ east longitude and 3618 ′ ~ 36 45 ′ north latitude. It is located in the easternmost part of Qaidam Basin, in the west of Chaka Basin, a small intermountain artesian basin in Cenozoic depression on the southern margin of Qilian Mountain, with Mount Ella in the south and Qinghai Lake in the north.

The lake surface of Chaka Salt Lake is lower than that of Qinghai Lake, the annual average temperature is slightly higher than that of Qinghai Lake, the annual average precipitation is less than that of Qinghai Lake, and the annual average evaporation is greater than that of Qinghai Lake.

The total area of Chaka Salt Lake is 105 square kilometers, the elevation is 3 100 meters, the length is 15.8 kilometers, and the width is 9.2 kilometers, which is oval. ?

Lake areas and waters are obviously affected by seasons. In rainy season, the lake area can reach 104 square kilometers, which is ten times that of Hangzhou West Lake, while in dry season, the lake area is obviously reduced. There is no surface brine in the dry season from June 5438 to April of the following year, and the rainy season is from May to September every year.

Chaka River, Mohe River and Xiaochahanwusu River, which are radially distributed on the edge of the salt lake, enter the lake, and spring water develops in the east of the lake area, which supplies the lake basin in the form of groundwater, and the lake has no outlet. 【 The Mayana River is injected into the southeast bank of the lake, while other rivers injected into the salt lake have little water, mostly seasonal rivers.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Chaka Salt Lake