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2:53pm August 28, 2014

smartpeopleposting:

Spotted Lake: a surreal place

Located near the city of Osoyoos in British Columbia, Canada, the Spotted Lake is a place as strange as something out of a surrealist film. 

The Spotted Lake contains one of the world’s highest known concentrations of minerals: magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts), calcium and sodium sulphates, plus eight other minerals and traces of four more, including silver and titanium.

Most of the water in the lake evaporates over the summer, leaving behind large “spots” of minerals. Depending on the mineral composition left behind, the spots will be of white, pale yellow, green or blue in color. The spots are made mainly of magnesium sulfate, which crystallizes in the summer to form harden natural “walkways” around and between the spots.

During the First World War, minerals from the lake were harvested for manufacture of ammunition. Known as Kliluk to the natives of the Okanagan Valley, the lake is a sacred and culturally significant site. 

References: [1] - [2]

Photo credit: ©Leah Ballin

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