s are indicated by dark lines.
Africa Large endorheic regions in Africa are located in the
Sahara Desert, the
Sahel, the
Kalahari Desert, and the
East African Rift: •
Chad Basin, in the northern centre of Africa. It covers an area of approximately 2.434 million km2. •
Qattara Depression, in
Egypt. •
Chott Melrhir, in
Algeria. •
Chott el Djerid, in
Tunisia. • The
Okavango River, in the Kalahari Desert, is part of an endorheic basin region, the
Okavango Basin, that also includes the
Okavango Delta,
Lake Ngami, the
Nata River, and a number of salt pans such as
Makgadikgadi Pan. •
Etosha Pan in
Namibia's
Etosha National Park. •
Turkana Basin, in
Kenya, whose basin includes the
Omo River of
Ethiopia. •
Lake Chilwa, in
Malawi. •
Afar Depression, in
Eritrea,
Ethiopia, and
Djibouti, which contains the
Awash River • Some
Rift Valley lakes, such as
Lake Abijatta,
Lake Chew Bahir,
Lake Shala,
Lake Chamo, and
Lake Awasa. •
Lake Mweru Wantipa, in
Zambia. •
Lake Magadi, in
Kenya. •
Lake Rukwa, in
Tanzania.
Asia , a large inland basin ,
Turkey Much of
Western and
Central Asia is a giant endorheic region made up of a number of
contiguous closed basins. The region contains several basins and terminal lakes, including: • The
Caspian Sea, the largest lake on Earth. A large part of western Russia, drained by the
Volga River, is part of the Caspian basin. •
Lake Urmia in Western Azerbaijan Province of Iran. • The
Aral Sea, whose tributary rivers have been diverted, leading to a dramatic shrinkage of the lake. The resulting ecological disaster has brought the plight of internal drainage basins to public attention. •
Lake Balkhash, in
Kazakhstan. •
Issyk-Kul Lake and
Chatyr-Kul Lake in
Kyrgyzstan. •
Lop Lake, in the
Tarim Basin of
China's
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. • The
Dzungarian Basin in Xinjiang, separated from the Tarim Basin by the
Tian Shan. The most notable terminal lake in the basin is the
Manas Lake. • The
Central Asian Internal Drainage Basin, in southern and western
Mongolia, contains a series of closed drainage basins, such as the
Khyargas Nuur basin, the
Uvs Nuur basin, which includes
Üüreg Lake, and the Pu-Lun-To River Basin. •
Qaidam Basin, in
Qinghai Province, China, as well as nearby
Qinghai Lake. •
Sistan Basin covering areas of
Iran and
Afghanistan •
Pangong Tso and
Aksai Chin Lake on the
China-India border • Many small lakes and rivers of the
Iranian Plateau, including
Gavkhouni marshes and
Namak Lake. •
Rub' al Khali Basin of the
Arabian Peninsula, covering most of
Saudi Arabia, and parts of the
United Arab Emirates,
Oman, and
Yemen. Other endorheic lakes and basins in Asia include: • The
Dead Sea, the
lowest surface point on Earth and one of its saltiest bodies of water lies between
Israel and
Jordan. •
Sambhar Lake, in
Rajasthan, north-western
India •
Lake Van in eastern
Turkey •
Sabkhat al-Jabbul, extensive salt flats and a lake in
Syria. •
Solar Lake,
Sinai, near the
Israeli-
Egypt border. •
Lake Tuz, in Turkey, in south part of
Central Anatolia Region. •
Sawa lake in Iraq, in
Muthanna Governorate.
Australia satellite photo of
Australia's
Lake EyreImage credit: ''NASA's Earth Observatory''
Australia, being very dry and having exceedingly low runoff ratios due to its ancient soils, has many endorheic drainages. The most important are: •
Lake Eyre basin, which drains into the highly variable
Lake Eyre and includes
Lake Frome. •
Lake Torrens, usually an endorheic lake to the west of the
Flinders Ranges in
South Australia, that flows to the sea after extreme rainfall events. •
Lake Corangamite, a highly saline
crater lake in western
Victoria. •
Lake George, formerly connected to the
Murray-Darling Basin Europe in
Crete Though a large portion of Europe drains to the endorheic
Caspian Sea, Europe's wet climate means it contains relatively few terminal lakes itself: any such basin is likely to continue to fill until it reaches an overflow level connecting it with an outlet or erodes the barrier blocking its exit. There are some seemingly endorheic lakes, but they are cryptorheic, being drained either through manmade
canals, via
karstic phenomena, or other subsurface seepage. •
Lake Neusiedl, in
Austria and
Hungary. •
Lake Trasimeno and
Pergusa Lake, in
Italy. •
Fucine Lake, in Italy, was drained starting under the
Ancient_Rome. •
Lake Velence, in
Hungary. •
Lake Balaton, in
Hungary until the
Sió was extended to the
Danube and the flow reversed. •
Lake Prespa, between
Albania,
Greece and
North Macedonia. •
Rahasane Turlough, the largest
turlough in Ireland. •
Laacher See, in Germany. •
Lac du Lauvitel, in France, appeared ~4000 years ago due to a rock slide. •
Étang de Montady, in France, has been drained subterraneanly since the Middle Ages. • The
Lasithi Plateau, in
Crete,
Greece, is a high endorheic plateau. Five minor eolian lakes exist close to
Étang de Berre :
Lavalduc Lake,
Engrenier Lake,
Pourra Lake,
Estomac lake and
Rassuen lake. A few minor true endorheic lakes exist in
Spain (e.g.
Laguna de Gallocanta,
Estany de Banyoles),
Italy,
Cyprus (
Larnaca and
Akrotiri salt lakes) and
Greece. There are also multiple small endoreic lake in the mountains in
France : Allos Lake, Anterne Lake, Eychauda Laye, La Beunaz Lake, Cassière Lake, Lessy Lake, Peyre Lake, Tardevant Lake, Confins Lake, Rouites Lake, Grand Ban Lake and Flaine Lake as an example.
North and Central America in
Death Valley National Park , Satellite photo (2003) after five years of
drought • The
Great Basin is
North America's largest and the
world's ninth largest endorheic basin, covering nearly all of
Nevada, much of
Oregon and
Utah, and portions of
California,
Idaho, and
Wyoming. Notable enclosed basins include
Death Valley, the hottest location on Earth; the
Black Rock Desert and
Bonneville Salt Flats, location of many of the new vehicle land speed records set since the 1930s; the
Great Salt Lake, remnant of
Lake Bonneville; and the
Salton Sea. • The
Valley of Mexico. In
Pre-Columbian times, the Valley was substantially covered with five lakes, including
Lake Texcoco,
Lake Xochimilco, and
Lake Chalco. •
Guzmán Basin, in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. The
Mimbres River of New Mexico drains into this basin. •
Lago Atitlán, a volcanic caldera lake in the highlands of Guatemala. It is cryptorheic. •
Lago Coatepeque, El Salvador. •
Bolsón de Mapimí, in northern
Mexico. •
Willcox Playa of southern
Arizona. •
Tulare Lake in the
San Joaquin Valley in
Central California, fed by the
Kaweah and
Tule Rivers plus southern
distributaries of the
Kings. Historically, it would drain into the
San Joaquin River in very wet years. Agricultural development and irrigation diversions have left the lake dry. •
Buena Vista Lake at the southmost end of the
San Joaquin Valley in
Southern California, fed by the
Kern River. Historically, it would drain into Tulare Lake and the
San Joaquin River in exceptionally wet years. Agricultural development and irrigation diversions have left the lake dry. •
Crater Lake, in
Oregon, a cryptorheic lake with subsurface drainage to the
Wood River. It is filled directly by rain and snow and has very little mineral or salt buildup. • The
Great Divide Basin in
Wyoming, a small endorheic basin that straddles the
Continental Divide of the Americas. •
Devils Lake, in
North Dakota. •
Devil's Lake, in
Wisconsin, cryptorheic. •
Tule Lake and the
Lost River basin in California and Oregon. •
Little Manitou Lake in
Saskatchewan. •
Manitou Lake in
Saskatchewan. •
Old Wives Lake, on the
Laurentian Divide in Saskatchewan. •
Quill Lakes, in Saskatchewan. •
Pakowki Lake, on the
Laurentian Divide in
Alberta. •
Paynes Prairie, in
Florida. Since 1927, it has been drained by canal to the Atlantic Ocean via the River Styx. •
Spotted Lake, Osoyoos,
British Columbia, Canada. • Several lakes on the western
Chilcotin Plateau sit on the divide between the Fraser River drainage to the east and the Homathko drainage to the west. Such examples include
Choelquoit Lake,
Eagle Lake, and
Martin lake. •
Frame Lake in
Yellowknife, capital of Canada's
Northwest Territories. •
New Mexico has several desert endorheic basins, including: • The
Tularosa Basin, a
rift valley. •
Zuñi Salt Lake, a
maar. • The
Mimbres River Basin, in
Grant County. • The
San Agustin Basin, in
Catron and
Socorro Counties. •
Lago Enriquillo on the island of
Hispaniola in the
Caribbean Sea. Many small lakes and ponds in
North Dakota and the Northern
Great Plains are endorheic, and some have salt encrustations along their shores.
South America satellite image from November 2001, showing
Lake Titicaca, the
Salar de Uyuni, and the
Salar de Coipasa, major features of the endorheic
Altiplano basin in Bolivia and Peru. •
Laguna del Carbón, in Gran Bajo de San Julián,
Argentina – the lowest point in the Western and Southern hemispheres •
Lake Mar Chiquita in Argentina • The
Altiplano includes a number of closed basins such as the
Salar de Coipasa, and
Titicaca–
Poopó system •
Lake Valencia, in Venezuela •
Salar de Atacama, in the
Atacama Desert,
Chile Antarctica Endorheic lakes exist in Antarctica's
McMurdo Dry Valleys,
Victoria Land, the largest ice-free area. •
Don Juan Pond in
Wright Valley is fed by groundwater from a rock glacier and remains unfrozen throughout the year. •
Lake Vanda in
Wright Valley has a perennial ice cover, the edges of which melt in the summer, allowing flow from the longest river in Antarctica, the
Onyx River. The lake is over 70 m deep and is hypersaline. •
Lake Bonney is in
Taylor Valley and has a perennial ice cover and two lobes separated by the Bonney Riegel. Glacial melt and discharge from
Blood Falls feed the lake. Its unique glacial history has resulted in hypersaline brine in the bottom waters and fresh water at the surface. •
Lake Hoare, in
Taylor Valley, is the freshest of the Dry Valley lakes, receiving its melt almost exclusively from the Canada Glacier. The lake has an ice cover and forms a moat during the Austral summer. •
Lake Fryxell is adjacent to the
Ross Sea in
Taylor Valley. The lake has an ice cover and receives its water from numerous glacial meltwater streams for approximately six weeks out of the year. Its salinity increases with depth. ==Ancient==