Larnaca Salt Lake - Larnaca (Cyprus)
N 34° 53.977 E 033° 36.980
36S E 556310 N 3862084
Complex of four salt lakes called "Larnaca Salt Lake", one of the most distinctive landmarks of the Larnaca city area and also important natural monument, served till 1986 as the most important source of salt in Cyprus.
Waymark Code: WMJDAY
Location: Cyprus
Date Posted: 11/03/2013
Views: 27
Complex of four salt lakes called "Larnaca Salt Lake", one of the most distinctive landmarks of the Larnaca city area and also important natural monument, served till 1986 as the most important source of salt in Cyprus.
Salt harvested from Larnaca Salt Lake used to be one of the Cyprus' major exports, being collected by donkeys, carried to the edge of the lake and piled up into huge pyramidal heaps. With rising labour costs harvesting dwindled to a negligible amount and stopped altogether in 1986 as the island imports most of this commodity... [from wiki]
Larnaca Salt Lake complex is one of the most important natural standing water bodies in Cyprus and is of international ecological signifikance ( rotected as Ramsar Site, Natura 2000 Site, Special Protected Area under Barcelona Convention, Important Bird Area). It consists of four main lake water bodies, the main Salt Lake, Orphani, Soros and the small so-called Airport Lake, which was part of the Orphani Lake but was cut off when the airport runway was constructed. This wetland area in southeastern Cyprus is in one of the driest parts of the island. The three most important climatic factors determining the development of salt lakes are temperature, net evaporation and precipitation.