Mahoney Lake
Mahoney Lake | |
Ecological Reserve | |
Winter Morning at Meromictic Mahoney Lake | |
Country | Canada |
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Province | British Columbia |
Location | Okanagan |
- elevation | 472 m (1,549 ft) |
- coordinates | 49°17′24″N 119°34′55″W / 49.29000°N 119.58194°WCoordinates: 49°17′24″N 119°34′55″W / 49.29000°N 119.58194°W |
Length | 895 m (2,936 ft) |
Depth | 18 m (59 ft) |
Area | 18 ha (44 acres) |
Founded | 1972 |
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Mahoney Lake is a meromictic saline lake located near Okanagan Falls in British Columbia, Canada.[1] It was established as an ecological reserve to preserve a southern interior saline lake, possessing unique limnological features in 1972.[2] It has a unique layering, where the very bottom of the lake is very salt rich and contains hydrogen sulphide (H2S), which facilitates the growth of the purple sulphur bacteria in the layer above it, where the bacteria has just enough light to grow. The upper layer of the lake consists of a mixing layer of fresh water. Mahoney Lake is alkaline because it features no inflow or outflow of water. The lake also contains very low levels of oxygen and an approximate pH of 7.5-9.0. The surface area of the lake is 18ha and the surface area of the land is 21ha, with combined total of 21 ha.
Images
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake Mahoney. |
- Last of the Winter Ice
External links
- Mahoney Lake ER130 Accessed September 12, 2013.
- Mahoney Lake Ecological Reserve Accessed September 12, 2013.