The most saline locations on Earth contain salt, or sodium chloride, and also other minerals and contain these in much greater quantities than the ocean. The following are the locations in the world with the greatest concentration of salt, with salinity levels that in many cases are inimical for life to survive in these places.
Don Juan Pond
Among the most saline locations on Earth, in terms of natural water bodies, the most saline is the Don Juan Pond in Antarctica. The pond has a salinity level of more than 40 per cent, which keeps the pond from completely freezing, even in Antarctic winters. The pond is located in the Victoria Land in Antarctica.
In a research project conducted by geologists from Brown University, USA, it was discovered very interestingly that the incredibly saline water is composed of water absorbed from the atmosphere by parched and saline soil. This is in addition to melted snow from the surrounding areas flowing into Don Juan Pond. It leads to a very dense saltwater mixture that keeps the pond from freezing. The water thus remains fluid in what is among the coldest and driest locations on Earth (Brown University, 2017). Don Juan pond is bereft of any aquatic life.
Fig: Don Juan Pond in Antarctica
Lake Vanda
Lake Vanda, another among the most saline locations on Earth, is also located in Victoria Land in Antarctica. The lake has a length of about 5 km and a maximum depth of about 69 m. Lake Vanda is a very peculiar lake, with salinity about 10 times that of seawater, and is more saline than the Dead Sea.
Lake Vanda is also more saline than Lake Assal in Djibouti, Africa, which is the most saline hypersaline lake outside the Antarctic continent. Lake Vanda’s peculiar geological condition can be called meromictic, in that deeper waters in the lake do not mix with the shallower waters. Although Lake Vanda does not act as a habitat for any species of fish, microorganisms such as algae might be found.
Fig: Lake Vanda in Antarctica
Lake Assal
Located in western Djibouti, the literal translation of Lake Assal is the honey lake. The lake is close to the region near Djibouti City, the Great Rift Valley, Dikhil region, and the Tadjoura region, and is among the most saline locations on Earth.
Lake Assal is a volcanic lake, and is located at the top of the Great Rift Valley that passes through the Danakil Desert, and is composed of two principal divisions. The first is a dry bed of salt white in colour that is the result of the evaporation of water from the lake in earlier times, leaving behind the dry salt bed. The second portion is the very saline body of water in the lake.
The area in which lake Assal is located is also among the hottest regions on Earth, where temperatures can reach up to 50oC. Also the more one approaches the lake the warmer one feels because of volcanic activity. The salt content in the lake is harvested by the local inhabitants and the lake thus acts as a source of income for them. Although rich in salt and some other minerals, the area around the lake is very sparsely vegetated, and the lake does not support much life other than an abundant population of bacteria (naturalwondersofafrica.com, 2017).
Fig: Lake Assal in Djibouti
The Dead Sea
In Arabic the Dead Sea is called Al-Bahr Al Mayyit, or the Sea of Death. Although referred to as a sea, the Dead Sea is actually an extremely large landlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan, located in Western Asia.
The Dead Sea is perhaps the most well known among the most saline locations on Earth. The Dead Sea is incidentally also the lowest body of water on Earth, 430 m below sea level, dropping about 1 m on a yearly basis.
The Al-Lisan Peninsula divides the lake into two disproportionate basins. About three-fourths of the lake’s total area is occupied by the northern basin, with a maximum depth of about 400 m. The remaining southern basin is considerably shallower, with an average depth of about 3 m. The subsidence of the lake has changed its geomorphology, with only the northern basin retaining its original dimensions despite great loss of water. The lake occupies a graben, which is a downfaulted part of the Earth’s crust, along a tectonic plate boundary, causing subsidence.
The Dead Sea is situated in a desert region and rainfall is scant. The lake is often seen with a think mist due to evaporation of its waters at about 55 inches a year. The salinity of the lake increases with depth, such that two different sorts of water masses can form in the lake. The salinity can reach about 300 parts per thousand at about 40 m depth. No form of life exists in the Dead Sea, among the most saline locations on earth, other than bacteria. Even fish coming in through flowing water into the Dead Sea cannot survive in it (Encyclopaedia Brittanica, 2017).
Fig: The Dead Sea in Israel/Jordan
Garabogazkol Aylagy
Garabogazkol Aylagy is a salt lagoon forming part of the Caspian Sea, and is located in a desolate region in Turkmenistan in Central Asia. At 11,265 sq km, it is the world’s largest salt lagoon and one of the most saline locations on Earth. In terms of salinity, Garabogazkol Aylagy is more saline than even the Dead Sea.
The water here is quite inimical to life, and one can see corpses of animals that have interacted with the environment in and around Garabogazkol Aylagy. Garabogazkol Aylagy is separated from the Caspian Sea by a narrow inlet of water, and this was blocked off in the 1980s over fears of discharges into the Caspian Sea. Following this Garabogazkol Aylagy began to dry off, such that pollution became a problem due to salt dust being blown around by winds. The water now is shallow and extremely salty.
The region is extremely difficult to travel to, and one would require a special permit. The only human activity in this location is salt harvesting, which also is a precarious activity.
Fig: Garabogazkol Aylagy in Turkmenistan
Qarhan Lake
Qarhan Lake in China forms a scenic landscape, forming salt corals and pillars that can at times look like a crystalline wonderland. Qarhan Lake is one among a collection of salt lakes in a basin area and is among the most saline locations on Earth.
Located in China’s Qinghai Province, the area is extensively harvested for salt and minerals. Qarhan lake has extremely high levels of potassium salts, with about 274 million tonnes of potassium estimated in reserve. The lake was formed out of the deposits of salt by rivers in a basin area with not outlet. The lake also draws water through precipitation and groundwater.
However, evaporation can cause the water in the lake to be highly saturated with saline content. The lake serves as the largest potash production base in China (Shanghai Daily, 2010). Due to the high potassium levels, the water in Qarhan lake is extremely hostile to most life.
Fig: Qarhan Lake in China
Great Salt Lake
The Great Salt Lake in Utah, USA is about 75 miles long and 35 miles wide. It is among the most saline locations in the world, and is so because of similar reasons to Qarhan Lake. The high salinity in the Great Salt Lake is due to salts brought in by water flowing into the lake but with no outlet.
The lake is a remnant of a massive Ice Age lake – Lake Bonneville – that has left indentations and traces in the landscape around the Great Salt Lake. The lake is too saline to support most forms of aquatic life such as fish, and instead hosts certain species adapted to extreme salinity such as several species of algae, brine shrimp and brine flies (utah.com, 2017).
Fig: Great Salt Lake, Utah
Salar de Uyuni
The Salar de Uyuni, also called the White Desert, is the largest salt flat in the world, and is located in Bolivia, South America. The salt flat is about 4,500 sq miles in area and is situated about 12,000 feet above sea level.
The salt flat is paved with white hexagonal tiles of salt that cover very wide expanses of areas. In the hot season the salt flat becomes a giant area littered with puddles, wherein one can see the reflection of the skies and clouds. The salt flat was formed due to the drying up of a lake in the area between 25,000 to 40,000 years ago (H. Mac Gregor, 2015). The entire area, although picturesque is a lifeless desert with sparse or literally no vegetation.
Fig: The Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia
Salar de Atacama
The Salar de Atacama, or the Chilean salt flat, is the second-largest salt flat in the world, located in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The area is rich in lithium reserves, so much so that in the year 2008, the area provided 30 per cent of global lithium carbonate.
The salt flat is located in a region of the Earth that has extremely dry conditions and there is much concern over drainage patterns in the Salar de Atacama.
Fig: The Salar de Atacama in Chile
Chot el Djerid
The Chot el Djerid in Tunisia, Africa is a seasonal saltwater lake that is almost fully dry for most of the year. Irrigated by groundwater sources, the area, among the most saline locations on Earth, has a thick saline crust of sodium chloride and is reddish in certain parts due to the presence of iron content.
Fig: The Chot el Djerid in Tunisia
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Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.
Globally, around 80% of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused, according to the United Nations.
This can pose a significant environmental and health threat.
In the absence of cost-effective, sustainable, disruptive water management solutions, about 70% of sewage is discharged untreated into India’s water bodies.
A staggering 21% of diseases are caused by contaminated water in India, according to the World Bank, and one in five children die before their fifth birthday because of poor sanitation and hygiene conditions, according to Startup India.
As we confront these public health challenges emerging out of environmental concerns, expanding the scope of public health/environmental engineering science becomes pivotal.
For India to achieve its sustainable development goals of clean water and sanitation and to address the growing demands for water consumption and preservation of both surface water bodies and groundwater resources, it is essential to find and implement innovative ways of treating wastewater.
It is in this context why the specialised cadre of public health engineers, also known as sanitation engineers or environmental engineers, is best suited to provide the growing urban and rural water supply and to manage solid waste and wastewater.
Traditionally, engineering and public health have been understood as different fields.
Currently in India, civil engineering incorporates a course or two on environmental engineering for students to learn about wastewater management as a part of their pre-service and in-service training.
Most often, civil engineers do not have adequate skills to address public health problems. And public health professionals do not have adequate engineering skills.
India aims to supply 55 litres of water per person per day by 2024 under its Jal Jeevan Mission to install functional household tap connections.
The goal of reaching every rural household with functional tap water can be achieved in a sustainable and resilient manner only if the cadre of public health engineers is expanded and strengthened.
In India, public health engineering is executed by the Public Works Department or by health officials.
This differs from international trends. To manage a wastewater treatment plant in Europe, for example, a candidate must specialise in wastewater engineering.
Furthermore, public health engineering should be developed as an interdisciplinary field. Engineers can significantly contribute to public health in defining what is possible, identifying limitations, and shaping workable solutions with a problem-solving approach.
Similarly, public health professionals can contribute to engineering through well-researched understanding of health issues, measured risks and how course correction can be initiated.
Once both meet, a public health engineer can identify a health risk, work on developing concrete solutions such as new health and safety practices or specialised equipment, in order to correct the safety concern..
There is no doubt that the majority of diseases are water-related, transmitted through consumption of contaminated water, vectors breeding in stagnated water, or lack of adequate quantity of good quality water for proper personal hygiene.
Diseases cannot be contained unless we provide good quality and adequate quantity of water. Most of the world’s diseases can be prevented by considering this.
Training our young minds towards creating sustainable water management systems would be the first step.
Currently, institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) are considering initiating public health engineering as a separate discipline.
To leverage this opportunity even further, India needs to scale up in the same direction.