Formation and Organization of the Athalassic Salt Lakes of Australia :: Geology Research Papers

Formation and Organization of the Athalassic Salt Lakes of AustraliaPrefaceUpon my bankers acceptance to the Biomes of Australia 2003 program a biologically-oriented summer experience in the Land voltaic pile Under that, for the 6th consecutive year, has been organized by Dr. Warren dolphin of Iowa State University I was presented with the task of writing a research writing on an aspect of the Australian landscape. Anxious to apply my new cognition of geomorphology and desiring to investigate an ecosystem from the holistic perspective of an environmental scientist, I colonised upon investigating the formative elements of athalassic (inland) flavour lakes and how they determine the ecological structure of sodium chloride lake playas. The research summarized in this report is an assimilation of fragmented literature on the pendant and represents an attempt to integrate those pieces for better clarity. I believe that my choke companions, to whom I am obligated to present t his information, shall derive a greater understanding of Australian salt lake systems from a broad examination of the subject than from an intensely focused analysis of but a single component. Although the information that I present is indeed broad in scope, the reader must realize that it falls short of comprehensiveness. The shear volume of literature prohibits designing anything other than a series of encyclopedias to encompass the full complexity of salt lake systems. It is my hope, rather, that this paper elicits the readers curiosity and prompts further reading on this fascinating area.The introduction draws a necessary overview of salt lakes in underlying geographic and geologic terms. Part I examines the processes of basin and lake formation, first the bodily mechanisms of creation and secondly the concentration of ions within the basin. Part II explores the make of salinity and other chemical characteristics on lake fauna. Part III explains how climaticalal adj ustments determine the composition of vegetation in and around salt lake basins. Together, these pieces should allow some insight to a central question of this paper What physiological and chemical characteristics of athalassic salt lakes, as determined by the regional climatic and hydrologic regime, determine local ecologies?Abstract The athalassic salt lakes of Australia arose during the continents sac to the present arid/semi-arid climate regime. Some, such as Lake Eyre are flitting and hold water only after infrequent and irregular rains others fill up intermittently or permanently contain water.