Natron Lake

Accident happens, unwanted thing exists. Beside the green and beautiful parts of nature, there are some dark and dangerous parts too. For better details, see image below.

Makes you go "What the hell is that?", right. This is a shot taken by Nick Brandt while going to Tanzania. It's "calcified" animal, or should I say a it's a mummy (yes, the one from Egypt). But, the best part here is it's not made by a person, it's nature work.

Let me show you, Lake Natron.

By lake, I mean the red part. Confused? Here is a photo from Nasa's World Wind program.

So, what's peculiar about the lake is its composition. It's basically a salt and soda lake. It contains high level of natron (sodium carbonate decahydrate) and trona (sodium sesquicarbonate dihydrate), thus its high alkalinity. It's said that those unusual composition comes from a nearby unique volcano, Ol Doinyo which gives alkali-rich natrocarbonatities. 

It's really hot (up to 60 degree Celsius) and corrosive nature makes it hard for most animals to live there. Those who come in contact will get the same fate as the first picture up there. Those who took a dip will die, and remain perfectly preserved as they dry. The animals aren't probably calcified though, but coated by the natron and trona, said Cerling, who has researched the chemistry of Africa's Rift Valley lake. The only living things there are halophil organism (those microorganisms who live in high-salt-concentration place), endemic algae, invertebrates, birds, and fishes in the slightly less salty water around the margins.

So, Nick Brandt the photographer came upon these dead bodies that appeared to be made of stone alongside the shoreline of the lake. He took them and posed them, as to "bring them back alive". Let's see the other photos, shall we.

 

Well, that's all to this post. Catch you later.