Solar Lake

BW

Salt lake / lagoon. Highest water temperatures of a salt lake on earth

The Solar Lake (English, German solar or Sonnensee, Arabic بركة الشمس Birkat al- Shams ) is a saltwater lake at the end of the Red Sea in Egypt, acting through its special location and its high salt content, such as a solar collector and with 60, 5 ° C produced the highest water temperatures that were previously measured on the earth in a salt lake. This has existed for about 4600 years, the lake has special hydrographic, chemical and biological properties that are now being explored, among others, with the aim to develop new methods for solar hot water and electricity.

Environment

The salt lake is located about 18 km south of Eilat, close to the border with Israel on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt in the desert. It is a narrow lagoon, which was separated by deposits from the Red Sea. It originated from a bay in the Red Sea between two rocky headlands, which was separated by coastal sediments deposited from the Red Sea. The lake is about 140 meters long, 50 meters wide and 4-6 meters deep. The seeping into the lake by a 60 -meter-wide dam salt water of the Gulf of Aqaba to evaporate, whereby increasing the salt concentration and salt crystals formed and deposited. This includes the water on a hyaline appearance. In this saline environment with 320 days of sunshine a year make rare stromatolites.

Through the influence of the sun and the associated evaporation of water to an extremely high water temperature developed associated with a high salt content. Because of the extreme salinity of the Solar Lake of 8 percent, which is twice as much as the average salinity of the oceans, stromatolites have no natural enemies here. They grow extremely slowly. Due to the solar radiation and the solar energy form in the salt water crystals that Monohydrocalcite called and other carbonates, which are reflected in the form of mats in a thickness of about one meter. These environmental conditions are a prerequisite to the development of stromatolites in conjunction with cyanobacteria.

At night, the near-surface waters of the lake from the cold winds of the desert are painted and the hot water loses temperature. This is caused by the stratification of the water, a strong temperature gradient of up to 18 ° C per meter. The salt layers absorb solar energy during the day and accumulate them. In SolarLake develop by this effect temperatures up to 60.5 ° C and salinities of up to 18 %. The temperature of 60.5 ° C was measured in 2.5 to 3 feet and 40 ° C in 5 meters depth.

Creature

At the shallow parts of the lake, a carpet of cyanobacteria, sulfur bacteria and diatoms formed. In the middle of the carpet itself gypsum crusts and oxygen-free mud have formed. In this extreme environment, only a few organisms can survive. There are tiny beetles and crabs, flatworms and ciliates. On job openings and at lower elevations in the lake of brine shrimp alive. These organisms have added to their survival glycerin in their cells and form after its death biogenic carbonate-rich deposits.

Use of the effects of solar energy technology

At the occurring in the Solar Lake effect has been researched and experimented with the aim of the effects of technological applications in the form of solar heat registers, called Solar Ponds, to make it usable.

• In Israel, the so-called Mini - OTEC turbines could be developed (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion ), which use the extreme temperature gradient in the salt lake to generate electricity.
• An engineer in New Mexico has a gel -based Solar Pond ( German: Solar pool ) patent, which stores heat and is able to cook after a few months storage water. Similarly, there are in New Jersey solar pool for hot water production.

These effects could form a fulfillable perspective for energy in the future, in the opinion of researchers quite when further research about it and methods are developed which can be realized economically.