Chott Melrhir, () also known as Chott Melghir or Chott Melhir, is an

endorheic An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

chott-kind of

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

in northeastern

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. It is the westernmost part of a series of depressions which extend from the Gulf of Gabès into the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

. It was formerly known as Lake Tritonis. They were created between

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

and

Early Pleistocene The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial epoch (geology), sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, representing the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently esti ...

as a result of compression accompanying the formation of the

Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. They separate the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range, which stretches around through M ...

. With the maximum area of about , it is the largest lake in Algeria.В. М. Котляко�
Мельгир (Chott Melrhir)
Словарь современных географических названий (Dictionary of modern geographical names), 2003–2006 It lies almost entirely below sea level and contains the lowest point in Algeria, . Its size varies over the year and is usually larger than from east to west.Chott Melrhir
Encyclopædia Britannica on-line The nearby cities are

Biskra Biskra () is the capital city of Biskra Province, Algeria. In 2007, its population was recorded as 307,987. Biskra is located in northeastern Algeria, about from Algiers, southwest of Batna, Algeria, Batna and north of Touggourt. It is nickna ...

(60 km north-west),

El Oued El Oued (), Souf or Oued Souf is a city, and the capital of El Oued Province, in Algeria. The oasis town is watered by an underground river, hence its name is El Oued which enables date palm cultivation and the rare use (for the desert) of brick c ...

and Touggourt (85 km south).Robert Mepham, R. H. Hughes, J. S. Hughes (1992
''A Directory of African Wetlands''
IUCN, pp. 23–24

Hydrology, geology and geography

During the rain season in winter, the lake is filled by numerous wadi (periodically drying rivers), mostly from north and north-west. The largest of them are the Djedi and Arab running from west to east down the slopes of Aurès Mountains. Others include Abiod, Beggour Mitta,

, Bir Az Atrous, Cheria, Demmed, Dermoun, Derradj, Djedeida, Djemorah, Halail, Horchane, Ittel, Mechra, Melh, Mzi, Messad, Oum El Ksob, Soukies, Tadmit and Zeribet. In summer, the lake and most of the rivers feeding it dry out, and Chott Melrhir turns into a salt pan. The annual water evaporation varies between 9.6 and 20 km³, and evaporation from soil nearby the lake can reach 14 km³. Chott Melrhir is separated from the nearby Chott Meorouane, which lies south-west, by a strip of permanently dry land which can be as narrow as 4 kilometers in some places. The bottom of the lake is mostly composed of

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

and mud and is covered in salt in summer. The lake emits a garlic-like odor. Although the dry soil in and around the lake appears arable, it is nearly barren due to the high concentration of salt. For the same reason, the soil absorbs much condensation overnight that keeps it partly humid during much of the day.

Climate

The climate in the Chott Melrhir is hot and arid with high evaporation and low precipitation. The average lowest and highest temperatures are 11.4 and 34.2 °C, respectively, and the minimum temperature is about 0 °C. Annual precipitation is below 160 mm. The winds have a speed between 2.7 and 5.3 m/s and are mostly directed south-east between June and September and north-west between autumn and early spring. Sandstorms are more frequent in winter and late summer and last 39 days per year on average.

Flora and fauna

The shallow waters of the lake contain scarce vegetation composed of 72 species of plants which have adapted to salty water, such as sea lavender ('' Limonium''), rushes ('' Juncus''), glasswort ('' Salicornia''), '' Sarcocornia'', bulrush ('' Scirpus'') and seepweeds ('' Suaeda''). Some species are unique for Algeria and 14 are endemic, such as ''Fagonia microphylla'', ''Oudneya africana'', ''Zygophyllum cornutum'', ''Limoniastrum feii'' and ''Ammosperma cinerea''.Chott Melghir
, Ministere de l'Agriculture. Direction Generale des Forets (in French) They grown up to 30 cm in height and host relatively rich avifauna, mostly

ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

sandgrouse Sandgrouse is the common name for Pteroclidae (), a family (biology), family of sixteen species of bird, members of the order Pterocliformes (). They are traditionally placed in two Genus, genera. The two central Asian species are classified as ...

, houbara bustard (''Chlamydotis undulata'') and greater flamingo (''Phoenicopterus roseus''). Lake waters are saturated with salt with concentrations reaching 0.4 kg/L and sustain only few animal species, such as brine shrimp. Wild boars, golden jackals, hares and foxes were observed around the lake. In June 2003, Chott Melrhir was included to the List of Ramsar wetlands of international importance.The List of Wetlands of International Importance
p. 5

References

External links

A detailed report on the lake by the Ministry of Agriculture of Algeria with the map of the area
(in French) {{Authority control Lakes of Algeria Endorheic lakes of Africa Ramsar sites in Algeria Lowest points of countries