Lake Van
Topic: Oceans: Hydrological Cycle, Relief of the Ocean Floor, Temperature and Salinity · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 12 "Water (Oceans)"
Meaning
Lake Van is a large salt lake in eastern Turkey. It has no outlet to the sea, so water leaves only by evaporation and the salts left behind build up. NCERT gives its salinity as 330‰ and ranks it as the saltiest water body: Lake Van (330‰) > Dead Sea (238‰) > Great Salt Lake (220‰). Modern data show that Lake Van is a soda lake with much lower salinity, and the Dead Sea is often given as about 340‰. For NCERT-based questions, use NCERT's figures.
Example
Lake Van lies on a high plateau in eastern Turkey, in the Armenian Highlands. In NCERT's list of the saltiest water bodies, it comes first, ahead of the Dead Sea (between Jordan and Israel) and the Great Salt Lake (USA).
Don't confuse with
- Dead Sea: the Dead Sea is between Jordan and Israel and is the lowest land on Earth, more than 430 m below sea level. NCERT ranks it second (238‰), though modern data often rank it saltier than Lake Van.