Australian scientists say they have found a lake that hasn't been affected by climate change or other man made influences, according to Yahoo! News. The water in the lake has the same chemical state that it did approximately 7,500 years ago.
"It's like God's bathtub," Dr. Cameron Barr, of the University of Adelaide, told the Australian Associated Press. "It is beautiful.
"It is absolutely beautiful," Barr continued, describing the body of water they have named Blue Lake.
The lake is one of the largest on North Stradbroke Island, which is located off the south Queensland coast. It's so clear that you can see the bottom of the 30-foot deep body of water, according to the Australian Associated Press.
"It appears that Blue Lake has been an important climate 'refuge' for the freshwater biota of the region, and is in the same condition now as it was 75,000 years ago," Barr told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Barr has published his findings in the current issue of Freshwater Biology, and says that Blue Lake is the only known lake of its kind in Australia. This was determined when the research team studied the lake, examining its water quality, fossil pollen and algae. Those findings were then compared to photos taken of nearby areas on the island over the past 117 years. There have been several lakes in the nearby vicinity that have dried up in the past 40 years as a result of climate change.
The team was on North Stradbroke to study those dried up lakes when it stumbled upon Blue Lake. The water has remained unchanged because it drains into a nearby swamp and it then replaced by an aquifer every 35 days or so, Barr said.
"Because it's constantly being updated, it doesn't suffer from the vagaries of the climate in so far as it doesn't evaporate and become more saline," Barr said. "It doesn't fill up and become fresher.
"It just remains constant," Barr finished. The lake could easily be altered by something as seemingly insignificant as sunscreen from tourists, which would have the potential to change the lake's chemistry.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
