Spotted Lake is located in British Columbia’s Similkameen Valley, Canada. It is a drainage basin with no outflow. This small lake is rich in a variety of minerals including calcium, sodium sulphate and magnesium sulphate plus eight other minerals and traces of four more, including silver and titanium.
During the summer season the water of the lake evaporates and crystallizes the minerals forming many white rimmed circles. These circles are actually mineral deposits that make it look like having spots. Another name for the Spotted Lake is Lake Khiluk.
Fast Facts: –
- This lake has been considered a sacred area by native communities, specifically to the First Nations Okanagan tribe.
- This tribe used the water in those spots to treat conditions such as warts, body aches, skin disease etc.
- It is a saline endorheic alkali lake that means its water has got high a pH level.
- It measures 0.16 miles wide by 0.43 miles long with a combined shore length of around 1 mile.
- There are said to be 365 individual pools of water in the lake during summer months.
- These pools keep shifting in size and color and the mineral within each change with further evaporation.
- The minerals were extracted from the lake during World War I to manufacture the explosives.
- The main cause of these spots being colourful is magnesium sulphate. Once it is crystallized, varying amounts of water accounts for the change in the spots’ color.
- This lake is designated as a protected area and has been owned by the Canadian government and indigenous communities.
