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 The Gulf of Gabes (or Cabès, Cabes, Gaps; ), also known as Lesser Syrtis (from ; ), contrasting with the Greater Syrtis in Libya, is a gulf on Tunisia's east coast in the Mediterranean Sea, off North Africa. The gulf roughly spans the coast from ...

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 Lake Tritonis () was a large body of fresh water in North Africa that was described in many ancient texts. Classical-era Greek writers placed the lake in Ancient Libya. In details of the late myths and personal observations related by these hist ...

. 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 Touggourt (; or 'the gate') is a city and Communes of Algeria, commune, former sultanate and capital of Touggourt District, in Touggourt Province, Algeria, built next to an oasis in the Sahara. As of the 2008 census, the commune had a population ...

(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 Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...

(periodically drying rivers), mostly from north and north-west. The largest of them are the

Djedi Djedi (also Dedi or Djedi of Djed-Sneferu) is the name of a fictional ancient Egyptian magician appearing in the fourth chapter of a story told in the legendary Westcar Papyrus. He is said to have worked wonders during the reign of king (phara ...

and Arab running from west to east down the slopes of

Aurès Mountains The Aures Mountains (, known in antiquity as ) are a subrange of the Saharan Atlas in northeastern Algeria. The mountain range gives its name to the mountainous natural and historical region of the Aurès. Geography The Aures mountains are the ...

. 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 A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transport ...

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 ''Limonium'' is a genus of about 600 flowering plant species. Members are also known as sea-lavender, statice, caspia or marsh-rosemary. Despite their common names, species are not related to the lavenders or to rosemary. They are instead in Plu ...

''), rushes (''

Juncus ''Juncus'' is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants, commonly known as rushes. It is the largest genus in the family Juncaceae, containing around 300 species. Description Rushes of the genus ''Juncus'' are herbaceous plants that superfici ...

''), glasswort (''

Salicornia ''Salicornia'' is a genus of succulent, halophytic (salt tolerant) flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae that grow in salt marshes, on beaches, and among mangroves. ''Salicornia'' species are native to North America, Europe, central Asia, ...

''), ''

Sarcocornia ''Sarcocornia'' is a formerly recognized genus of flowering plants in the amaranth family, Amaranthaceae. Species are known commonly as samphires, glassworts, or saltworts. Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that when separated from ''Salico ...

'', bulrush (''

Scirpus ''Scirpus'' is a genus of grass-like species in the sedge family Cyperaceae many with the common names club-rush, wood club-rush or bulrush. They mostly inhabit wetlands and damp locations. Description ''Scirpus'' are rhizomatous perennial herbs ...

'') and seepweeds (''

Suaeda __NOTOC__ ''Suaeda'' is a genus of plants also known as seepweeds and sea-blites. Most species are confined to saline or alkaline soil habitats, such as coastal salt-flats and tidal wetlands. Many species have thick, succulent leaves, a character ...

''). 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 The African houbara (''Chlamydotis undulata''), also known as the houbara bustard (''houbara'' from for bustards in general), is a relatively small bustard native to North Africa, where it lives in arid habitats. The global population is listed ...

(''Chlamydotis undulata'') and

greater flamingo The greater flamingo (''Phoenicopterus roseus'') is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. Common in the Old World, they are found in Northern (coastal) and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Subcontinent (south of the Him ...

(''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 ''Artemia'' is a genus of aquatic crustaceans also known as brine shrimp or ''Sea-Monkeys, sea monkeys''. It is the only genus in the Family (biology), family Artemiidae. The first historical record of the existence of ''Artemia'' dates back to t ...

. Wild boars,

golden jackal The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called the common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Eurasia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy yellow in summer to a dark tawny beige in winter. It is smaller a ...

s, hares and foxes were observed around the lake. In June 2003, Chott Melrhir was included to the

List of Ramsar wetlands of international importance Ramsar sites are protected under by the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and r ...

.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