Sutton Salt Lake on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Sutton Salt Lake in 
Otago
Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...
, is New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
's only inland salt water lake.New Zealand also has one coastal salt water lake, Lake Grassmere
Lake Grassmere / Kapara Te Hau is a New Zealand waituna-type lagoon in the northeastern South Island, close to Cook Strait. The lake is used for the production of salt.
Geography
Lake Grassmere, south of Blenheim and south of the mouth of ...
, a lagoon with no direct outflow to the sea. It is located 10 kilometres west of Sutton
Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to:
Places
United Kingdom
England
In alphabetical order by county:
* Sutton, Bedfordshire
* Sutton, Berkshire, a location
* Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire
* S ...
, in the Strath Taieri
Strath Taieri is a large glacial valley and river plateau in New Zealand's South Island. It is surrounded by the rugged hill ranges to the north and west of Otago Harbour. Since 1989 it has been part of the city of Dunedin. The small town of Middle ...
.
The lake is filled only by rainwater and dries up during periods of warm weather and little rain. When full, the lake has salinity about one quarter to one third of that of seawater. The salinity is due to marine aerosols in rainwater which is concentrated by around 20000 evaporation and refilling cycles.
Sutton Salt Lake is also unique in that it lies in a region of windy cool-temperate maritime climate. This makes it different from most of the world's saline lakes, which usually form in arid continental landscapes. The total area of the lake, when the shallow depression is filled with rainwater, is nearly two hectares. The nearest coast is 50 kilometers from the lake.
The area around Sutton Lake gets 500 mm of rainfall annually. Coastal hills create a minor barrier to the rain, halving the amount of rainfall that the lake receives. Strong winds increase the lake's surface evaporation rate, which is around 700 mm/year.
References
Lakes of Otago Saline lakes of Oceania Endorheic lakes of Oceania {{Otago-geo-stub