Lonar Lake
Interesting facts
- The lake was long taken for a volcanic crater; drill cores containing shatter cones and shock-transformed maskelynite glass finally proved a meteorite impact.
- The meteorite struck lava flows of the Deccan Traps that had already been lying there for about 66 million years.
- A 2019 study by IIT Bombay found minerals in the crater's soil similar to those in Moon rocks brought back by the Apollo missions.
- Debris thrown out by the impact flowed across the land in layered lobes resembling those seen around craters on Mars.
- The lake water is strongly alkaline, with a pH usually measured between about 9 and 10.5.
- Its usual green colour comes from dense blooms of cyanobacteria of the genus Arthrospira, better known as spirulina.
- Several bacteria, among them Cecembia lonarensis, and the fungus Curvularia lonarensis were described by science for the first time from this lake.
- The crater was identified for Western science in 1823 by a British officer, C. J. E. Alexander.
- Old temples in Chalukya and Hemadpanti styles ring the crater, and one of them, the Shankar Ganesha temple, stands partly submerged.
- About 160 bird species have been recorded around the lake, along with grey wolves and Indian gazelles.
Why it is worth it
On the Deccan Plateau of Maharashtra, among flat fields of dark basalt soil, the ground suddenly drops into an almost perfectly round bowl about 1.8 km across and 150 metres deep. At the bottom lies a green, saline lake. Lonar is a meteorite impact crater — the only known impact crater on earth formed entirely in basalt, and the only crater lake of meteoritic origin in India.
The age of the impact has been debated. Earlier studies placed it at around 52,000 years ago; later argon dating suggested some 570,000 years, a result disputed because of possible contamination. The lake has no outlet, and its water is strongly alkaline and salty. In June 2020 it turned from green to pinkish red within a few days — a bloom of salt-loving microorganisms after a rise in salinity — and the pictures went around the world.
The crater is also a place of worship. Local tradition derives the name Lonar from the demon Lonasura, slain here by Vishnu, and the Daitya Sudan temple is associated with that legend. The classic view is from the rim, looking down into the bowl and across to the water. The site is a national geological monument and, since 2020, a Ramsar wetland.
Getting there
The crater lies at the edge of the town of Lonar, about 1.8 km from its centre. The nearest railway station is at Jalna, about 90 km away by road, and buses and taxis run from Jalna and Aurangabad. The nearest airport is Aurangabad (IXU), about 117 km away in a straight line and around 140 km by road.
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From the encyclopaedia
Lonar Lake is a saline, soda lake located near Lonar in Buldhana district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It occupies an impact crater formed by a hypervelocity meteorite impact. It is the only crater lake of meteoritic origin in the country, and has been designated as a National Geological Monument and a Ramsar site.
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