Lake Natron is a salt water lake located in the northern part of Tanzania. It is situated closely to the Kenyan border in Africa's Great Rift Valley. The Lake Natron is generally shallow and its depth is less than 10 feet. However, the depth varies with width depending upon the water level. The color of the lake depends upon the intensity of evaporation.
Due to high evaporation, the salt level of the lake increases and as a result, some salt loving microorganisms start thriving there. These microorganisms can prepare their own food like the plants. Examples of this microorganism is cyanobacteria. The red pigment provides deep red color to the open water of the lake and orange color to the shallower parts of the lake.
The Natron Lake is the breeding ground of nearly 2.5 million Flamingoes and these Flamingoes generally thrive on these microorganisms such as the algae and the bacteria. The reason of this area becoming the only breeding ground for the Flamingoes is its high content of caustic elements, which prevents the other predators from entering into their nests. The temperature of the swampy area can rise up to 50 degree Celsius and depending on the amount of rain, the level of alkalinity can go up to a pH of 9 to 10.5. A particular type of fish known as the alkaline Tilapia, which is very much native to Lake Natron, is also found in abundance near the hot spring inlets.
