It was a question of the heads of people across India after Lonar Lake in the state of Maharashtra in recent days suddenly changed shades.
Experts believe that the change is likely to occur either by increased salinity in the water, the presence of algae or a combination of both – like parts of the Great Salt Lake of Utah or Lake Hillier in Australia.
Gajanan Kharat, a local geologist, said in a video he posted Twitter feed Maharashtra Tourism, that this had happened before, but it was not so prominent.
“It looks especially red this year because the salinity of the water has risen this year,” he said. “The amount of water in the lake decreased and the lake became shallow, so the salinity increased and caused some internal changes.”
Kharat said researchers are also investigating whether the presence of red algae caused the color to change.
Samples are sent to several laboratories, he said, and “after studying it, we’ll be able to definitely say why the lake’s water turned red.”
The lake, located about 500 kilometers (311 miles) east of Mumbai, formed after a meteorite hit Earth some 50,000 years ago, according to CNN affiliate CNN News 18, It is a popular tourist attraction and has been studied by scientists around the world, CNN News reported 18.
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