The lake in west-central India promptly changed from green to pink, and the reason why remains a mystery. Geology 39: 671674. Appl Environ Microbiol 73: 451455. Grant S, Grant WD, Jones BE, Kato C, Li L . Diversity of RuBisco and ATP citrate lyase genes in soda lake sediments. Alternatively, you can also travel by buses that runregularly to Lonar from the major towns of Maharashtra. A small fresh water stream drains into the lake. (2006). Curr Sci 82: 455458. The ceiling of the temple has carvings. The present day idol was made by Bholse rulers of Nagpur after the original went missing. Limnol Oceanogr 19: 743755. They speculate, however, that the color could be a result of microscopic life that thrives in water with high salt concentrations. (2004). Commercial activities, including illegal construction, within the vicinity of lake has damaged the lake's natural topography. Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on The ISME Journal website, Paul Antony, C., Kumaresan, D., Hunger, S. et al. Hydrobiologia 522: 235248. The top places near to Lonar are Ajanta and ellora caves which is 140 km from Lonar, Aurangabad which is located 123 km from Lonar, Burhanpur which is located 152 km from Lonar, Goa which is located 574 km from Lonar, Udaipur which is located 588 km from Lonar, Daityasudan temple : Destruction by Muslim invaders. Places to Visit in Lonar - Tripadvisor Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 67: 18611866. History of Lonar Lake! Sultanpuram VR, Mothe T, Chintalapati S, Chintalapati VR. New York Academy of Sciences: Boston, MA, pp. Nitrogen fixation dynamics of two diazotrophic communities in Mono Lake, California. Soda lakes are saline and alkaline ecosystems that are believed to have existed throughout the geological record of Earth. Subsequently, the novel moderately haloalkaliphic methylotroph M. lonarensis was isolated from Lonar Lake sediments (Antony et al., 2012a). Some of the bacteria and actinomycetes isolated from this lake are able to grow on some components of inorganic medium containing martian soil simulant components. A microbial arsenic cycle in a salt saturated, extreme environment. Arch Microbiol 180: 127133. Soda lakes in the East African Rift valley, Kulunda-Transbaikal steppes and the USA constitute some of the best characterized soda lakes in the world and several novel genera and species of autotrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms have been described from them (reviewed in Grant and Sorokin, 2011). nov., a bacterium isolated from a soda lake. Bavaria, German Bayern, largest Land (state) of Germany, comprising the entire southeastern portion of the country. The nearest airport is located at Aurangabad around 150 km away. Pastor JM, Salvador M, Argandona M, Bernal V, Reina-Bueno M, Csonka LN et al. Haloalkaliphilic Bacteria and Archaea belonging to all major trophic groups have been described from many soda lakes, including lakes with exceptionally high levels of heavy metals. Many soda lakes experience massive seasonal or permanent microbial blooms often resulting in distinct coloration of the lake water (Grant et al., 1990). Ectoine is accumulated intracellularly by soda lake microorganisms such as methylotrophs (Trotsenko and Khmelenina, 2002; Doronina et al., 2003; Antony et al., 2012a) and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (Sorokin et al., 2011). Comparison of chitinolytic enzymes from an alkaline, hypersaline lake and an estuary. The killing of Lavanasur by Lord Krishna and appearance of Dhar of Lonar; story of Kansa and Krishna, story of Narasimha and HiranKashyap and lastly raskrida. Since we ( Lonar Lake Guide Team) is living in the local area of Lonar, Maharashtra, India, we have decided to write an informative blog on Lonar . Science 180: 862864. Environ Microbiol 6: 10491060. The decision . That was the question on people's minds across India after Lonar Lake in the state of Maharashtra suddenly changed hues in recent days. Syntrophic associations between sulfur autotrophs related to Thioalkalivibrio in the presence/absence of other partial denitrifiers potentially mediate the denitrification process in the hypersaline soda lakes of the Wadi al Natrun (Sorokin et al., 2003). Lonar Lake is the personal guide on the historical National Geo-heritage Monument. Srinivas A, Rahul K, Sasikala Ch, Subhash Y, Ramaprasad EV, Ramana ChV. (1987). FEMS Microbiol Ecol 75: 3747. Lonar Lake of Maharashtra - Lakes of India Lonar Lake lies within the only known extraterrestrial impact crater found within the great Deccan Traps, a huge basaltic formation in India (Source:Wikipedia). The lake water sweeps across the shore like sea water, and the birds, wolves, peacocks and other creatures start making their presence felt. The first site from Maharashtra to enter the list was Nandur Madhameshwar in 2019. Alkalophilic Methanosarcina isolated from Lonar Lake. Lonar Lake. Metagenomics and recovery of enzyme genes from alkaline saline environments. Molecular analyses of microbial diversity associated with the Lonar soda lake in India: an impact crater in a basalt area. The Top 7 Temples Around Lonar Lake You Must Know! Sultanpuram VR, Lodha TD, Chintalapati VR, Chintalapati S. (2013). Geomicrobiology J 31(6): 519528. (fungi), respectively, suggesting either direct assimilation of C1 compounds by the active micro-eukaryotes present or flow of labeled carbon from prokaryotes to higher trophic levels of the lake food web through grazing or decomposition of (methylotrophic) biomass and metabolites. The occurrence of acetogenic bacterial taxa, such as Natroniella acetigena, Thermosyntropha lipolytica and Tindallia magadiensis (Zavarzin et al., 1994, 1999), suggests that acetogens might be consumers of the products of other anaerobic microorganisms in these lake sediments (Grant and Sorokin, 2011). It belongs to the Hemadpanthi class and is built in the form of an irregular star. Let us discuss Lonar lake in this article and the reasons for change in the colour of its water. (2007). CPA acknowledges a senior research fellowship from the Indian Council of Medical Research, Government of India. Microb Ecol 55: 163172. Trophic links between fermenters and methanogens in a moderately acidic fen soil. (2002). Bavaria is bounded to the north by the states of Thuringia and Saxony, to the east by the Czech Republic, to the south and southeast by Austria, and to the west by the states of Baden-Wrttemberg and Hessen. Halophilic acetogenic bacteria. and extant methanogens (Surakasi et al., 2007). Its construction is believed to have taken place in the Pleistocene era around 35,000 to 50,000 years ago by the fall of a huge meteorite. Lonar is a small town in the Buldhana district of Maharashtra. According to scientists, the Lonar meteorite, which formed an oval-shaped crater about 1,800 meters (5,900 ft) in diameter and about 150 meters deep, had the power and energy of millions of atomic bombs. (2005). But in a research paper published in 2010, the age of the lake is estimated at 570,000 47,000 years.Organizations such as the Smithsonian Institution, United States Geographic Survey in America and the Geological Society of India, Physical Research Laboratory of India have done a lot of research on this lake. [38] A new species of fungus Curvularia lonarensis has been described from the lake.[50]. Kumar PA, Srinivas TNR, Madhu S, Sravan R, Singh S, Naqvi SWA et al. Antony CP, Kumaresan D, Hunger S, Drake HL, Murrell JC, Shouche YS. Starnberger See, Germany - travel information from GermanSights ISSN 1751-7362 (print), Microbiology of Lonar Lake and other soda lakes, Distinct Assembly Mechanisms for Prokaryotic and Microeukaryotic Communities in the Water of Qinghai Lake, Identification of environmental stress parameters to study the natural colour change of water in highly saline inland Crater Lake at Lonar, India, Salt tolerance-based niche differentiation of soil ammonia oxidizers, Microbial diversity in extreme environments, Lonar Impact Crater, India: the Best-Preserved Terrestrial Hypervelocity Impact Crater in a Basaltic Terrain as a Potential Global Geopark. (2008). Internet Explorer). You can either hire a taxi from Aurangabad or book a seat on the buses that run regularly between Aurangabad and Lonar. According to Gajanan, there is no oxygen below one meter below the surface of the water, while this lake has algae and its water has also evaporated due to heat, which has increased its salinity. have also been isolated from Lake Magadi and Inner Mongolian soda lakes (reviewed in Grant and Sorokin, 2011). (2007). Image of the Day This lake is a notified National Geographical Heritage monument in India. Antony CP, Doronina NV, Boden R, Trotsenko YA, Shouche YS, Murrell JC . The crater thereby formed is the only en:hypervelocity meteoritic impact crater on basalt rock. Approximately 50,000 years ago, a meteorite traveling at about 11 miles per second slammed into Indias Deccan Plateau. Kumar PA, Srinivas TNR, Madhu S, Manorama R, Shivaji S . Lonar Lake is an astrobleme created by a meteorite impact during the Pleistocene Epoch. (2004). [52][53] Methylotrophic methanogenesis has been reported in Lonar Lake sediments and the primary microorganism (archaeon) that is responsible was identified as being closely related to Methanolobus oregonensis. The simple answer is No. , For any feedback or complaint, email to: compliant_gro@jagrannewmedia.com, This website uses cookie or similar technologies, to enhance your browsing experience and provide personalised recommendations. You can hire a taxi from the airport to reach Lonar. The Lonar Lake- A Geographical And Mythological History Giri BJ, Bano N, Hollibaugh JT . Sorokin DY, Antipov AN, Kuenen JG . Grant WD . Extremophiles 3: 139145. Thank you! A fresco in this magnificent palace is said to have been the first depiction of the Taj Mahal's design. Foti M, Sorokin DY, Lomans B, Mussman M, Zakharova EE, Pimenov NV et al. Not properly connected. "Save Lonar") for the protection of Lonar crater are on-going. Kamalja Devi Temple 5. Lonar crater, India: an analog for martian impact craters, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVIII abstracts. Lonar Lake: A 50,000-year-old lake in India just turned pink and [54], Endolithic bacteria belonging to the phyla Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Cyanobacteria and Bacteroidetes, and endolithic archaea belonging to the phyla Thaumarchaeota and Euryarchaeota were detected in Lonar basalt rock samples that were retrieved from the crater walls and the lake-bed. Lonar Lake: India's Hidden Geological Gem | Zee Zest Earthquake: Causes, Effects and Magnitude measurement. 5975. Daitya Sudan temple, another temple located in Lonar is very famous for its architectural style as it reminds of the world famous Khajuraho temples. Use of fertilizers, pesticides and toxic materials in the agriculture field around the lake results in pollution of lake water. [34], The site has 160 bird, 46 reptile and 12 mammal species. (Antony et al., unpublished; Antony et al., 2012a). Microbiologiya 68: 503521. Similarly, information on the nature of trophic interactions between the various soda lake microbes and their gross contribution towards maintenance of overall ecosystem health is lacking. 5H2O. By Air: Aurangabad is the closest airport to Lonar. Apart from this, the scientific reason for this change in water colour maybe that fungi named Halobacteria and Dunonilla salina are found in Lonar lake due to which water may turn pink. +919975447088. Grant WD, Sorokin DY . This, of course, raises an interesting biogeography question as to whether soda lakes across Africa, North America and Eurasia share a core microbiota (Table 3) on account of dispersal over long geographical distances or whether microbiota evolved independently in each of these soda lakes under the influence of local environmental and geochemical factors. 87110. The occurrence of diverse functional groups illustrates that soda lakes harbor complex microbial food webs that interconnect various biological cycles via redox coupling. Analysis of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria from a hypersaline Mono Lake, California, on the basis of 16S rRNA sequences. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. The most significant temple, however, sits in heart of the Lonar town the Daitya Sudan temple. New aerobic methylotrophic isolates from the Soda lakes of the southern Transbaikal. Astrobiology 20: 91-141. (2011). Encyclopaedia of Microbiology 1st edn. broad. The government is unable to raise funds needed for preserving this crater and often tourist activities continue to cause environmental damage to nearby land. The total area of the sanctuary is about 365.16 sq km which covers 77.69 hectares of Lonar Lake. (2004). Most of the crater floor is covered by a saline (NaCl approximately 0.4%) and alkaline lake (pH approximately 10) that is approximately 6m deep (Joshi et al., 2008; Maloof et al., 2010). Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. long by 25.8m (84.5ft). (2004). This lake was formed by a small meteor which might have been separated from the main meteor. Why Lonar Lake turned pink? - INSIGHTSIAS Lonar does not have its own railway station. Read More. Environ Microbiol Rep 1: 307318. The food options here tend to be limited other than few restaurants and some local food stalls. Description of Dal Lake Known as the Jewel of Srinagar or the crown of Kashmir, Dal Lake is the second [], This Kankaria Lake was earlier also known as Hauz-e-Qutub. Appl Env Microb 70: 27412747. Lonar Lake has been declared as Wildlife Sanctuary for the conservation and conservation of Lonar lake. However, in the mid 20th century, geologists began to suspect it stemmed from an extraterrestrial encounter. Bacillus arsenicoselenatis, sp. JOSSA Round 2 Seat Allotment 2023 Releases Tomorrow; Required Documents Here, Logical Social Studies Riddle: Test your GK by solving this riddle in 10 seconds, Indian Railways RRC Recruitment 2023: 10th Pass Can Apply Online for 1104 Apprentice Vacancies, ICAI CA Inter, Final Results 2023 Today : icai.nic.in CA , , KGMU Nursing Officer Recruitment 2023 for 1276 Staff Nurse Vacancy; kgmu.org.in Online Form 2023 Begun, UGC NET Answer key 2023 : , , ICAI CA Result 2023 Declared, Check Inter, Final May Exam Pass Percentage, Statistics Here. Spread over an area of about 2 km, the environment around this lake is very calm and relaxing to the heart. Guides lack the required knowledge about the place and its history. Neufeld JD, Murrell JC . (2007). Appl Environ Microbiol 72: 21102117. Dissimilatory arsenate reduction with sulfide as electron donor: Experiments with Mono Lake water and isolation of strain MLMS-1, a chemoautotrophic arsenate-respirer. Paul, D., Kumbhare, S. V., Mhatre, S. S., Chowdhury, S. P., Shetty, S. A., Marathe, N. P., et al. Winter (October to February) is the best time to visit Lonar Lake. Lonar Tourism (2023) - Maharashtra > Top Places, Travel Guide - Holidify Interestingly, microbial ecology studies conducted so far in soda lakes have been restricted to the bacterial and archaeal domains of life and little is known about the diversity, abundance and activity of micro-eukaryotes in such lakes. [31], Streptomyces alkalithermotolerans is an alkaliphilic and thermotolerant bacterium species from the genus of Streptomyces which has been isolated from the Lonar soda lake in India. The 50,000-year-old lake changed colors (from its original green) in a few days. Kovaleva OL, Tourova TP, Muyzer G, Kolganova TV, Sorokin DY . There are many entertainment resources around this lake. Developed under the Auspices of the UNESCO, Eolss Publishers: Oxford, UK, http://www.eolss.net. Wani AA, Surakasi VP, Siddharth J, Raghavan RG, Patole MS, Ranade D, Shouche YS. Lonar Lake is located in the Buldhana district of Maharashtra. Bavaria | History, People, Map, Beer, & Facts | Britannica Occurrence of nitrification in extremely alkaline environments. Doronina NV, Darmaeva T, Trotsenko YA . Lonar Lake, which was created by a meteor hitting the Earth, is a saltwater lake in Buldhana district, Maharashtra, India. Article The oval-shaped crater, which has a circumference of about five miles at the top, is both saline and alkaline. nov., a novel alkaliphilic and moderately halophilic, obligately methylotrophic bacterium from an East Mongolian saline soda lake. The use of microarrays, such as PhyloChip and GeoChip (Andersen et al., 2010), in conjunction with the measurement of specific biogeochemical parameters will aid in the rapid comparative profiling of the structure and activity of soda lake microbial communities on a spatiotemporal scale. The estimated area of Lonar taluka is about 673 sq. Flight Center. Can You Find the Car? The lake has an elevation of about 480 meters above sea level. The total area of the sanctuary is about 365.16 sq km which covers 77.69 hectares of Lonar Lake. Located in Buldhana district of the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra (around 500 Km from Mumbai), Lonar lake is one of its kind in the world . Buses also run to Lonar from Nagpur, Akola, Buldhana, Malkapur, Jalna and Nanded. Res Microbiol 157: 928937. Microbial diversity of soda lakes. Microbiology (Moscow, English translation) 67: 335339. Also, the Lonar Lake area has been given the status of Lonar Sanctuary due to its diverse vegetation. Microbiology of Lonar Lake and other soda lakes | The ISME Journal - Nature Chapman & Hall: New York, pp 432444. The food available in Lonar has influence from both Khandesh and Marathwada cuisines. Two novel arsenate-respiring heterotrophs, Bacillus selenitireducens and B. arsenicoselenatis, and three novel chemoautotrophs, Alkalilimnicola ehrlichii (strain MLHE-1), strain MLMS-1 and Halarsenatibacter silvermanii (strain SLAS-1), have been isolated from these lakes (Switzer Blum et al., 1998; Hoeft et al., 2004, 2007; Oremland et al., 2005). A lake that evolved in the resulting basaltic rock formation, is both saline and alkaline in nature. See. Res Microbiol 157: 928937. Resolving the primary and secondary syntrophic fermenters (McInerney et al., 2008) that might be integrated to the flow of carbon in sediments of Lonar Lake would be of value since little is known of these anaerobes in soda lake environments. Structural gene-based diversity analysis of methanotrophic Bacteria in Mono Lake revealed changes in the methanotroph community structure with respect to methane oxidation activity and recovered many sequences that were affiliated to Methylobacter, Methylomicrobium, Methylothermus and Methylocystis spp. Lonar Lake is rimmed by lush forests and a smattering of old temples. Lake Lonar has water with both alkaline and saline chemical properties. Taxonomic characterization of new alkaliphilic and alkalitolerant methanotrophs from soda lakes of the Southeastern Transbaikal region and description of Methylomicrobium buryatense sp. Complete denitrification in coculture of obligately chemolithoautotrophic haloalkaliphilic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria from a hypersaline soda lake. Science in Africa- Emerging Water Management Problems. Pelagic methanogenesis and anaerobic methane oxidation. Trotsenko YA, Khmelenina VN . Human interactions and water quality in the Horn of Africa. Future efforts in these areas will be important and productive. This 6,000 feet wide and 500 feet deep lake is, therefore, an important source of scientific research and educational importance. V4vjk/CC BY-SA 3.0 Approximately 50,000 years ago, a meteorite traveling at about 11 miles per second slammed into India 's Deccan. ISSN 1751-7370 (online) One explanation for the rapid change in Indias Lonar Lake could be a rapid rise in salinity as evaporation during warm, dry weather in the area has caused water levels to drop. Lonar crater (1959N, 7631E) is a simple, bowl-shaped, near-circular and remarkably well-preserved depression in the otherwise featureless Deccan Plateau in Buldhana district, Maharashtra state, India (Fredriksson et al., 1973; Maloof et al., 2010).The crater is 1.880.05 km wide and approximately 135 m deep, with the . The microbial sulfur cycle at extremely haloalkaline conditions of soda lakes. Lake Como is located in the foothills of [], Lake Victoria is known as the second largest lake in the world. Lonar is famous for Lonar crater and Lonar Lake, which is located at 1958N 7630E. Sulfide concentration (200mM) in the anaerobic waters of Soap Lake (USA) is probably the highest recorded so far in a natural water body (Sorokin et al., 2007). There are numerous temples round the lake itself, most of which are in ruinous condition. Where is Lonar lake and how was it formed? - Jagran Josh The collision formed Lonar Lake, the one of the largest, most unique basalt impact craters in the world. (1973). It maybe useful to get a guide to take you on the many beautiful trails. Geological Society Special Publication: London, No. Developed and hosted by National Informatics Centre,Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology. If travelling from Nagpur, one must take a bus till Mehkar near Washim and then head to Lonar. We can see about 10 to 15 centimeters of glass stones made from this dissolved sand scattered all over the area. DNA-stable isotope probing and gene mining. This lake is located in the eastern part [], Famous for its beauty, Dal Lake is located in Srinagar in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Its water is alkaline. (2000). NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. J Basic Microbiol 50: 465474. It was created due to a meteorite. it is has the only lake in India that is created out of hypervelocity meteorite impact. It is a wonderful scene to watch the sun rising or setting below the lake walls. There are temples around 1250 years ago. It is the largest lake on the continent of Africa. These methanogens may be linked to the intermediary ecosystem metabolism of Lonar Lake sediments, that is, the anaerobic network of trophically linked microbes that yield intermediates (for example, fatty acids and alcohols) that drive methanogenesis either directly or indirectly (McInerney and Bryant, 1981; Drake et al., 2009). Sheridan C . In: Oremland RS (ed.) Along with being famous for a crater that was formed over 50,000 years ago due to the collision of a meteorite on the surface of the region, Lonar is also famous for its rich natural heritage. Lautersee is a beautiful alpine lake located approximately 3 KM from Mittenwald. The Carotenogenic Dunaliella salina CCAP 19/20 Produces Enhanced Levels of Carotenoid under Specific Nutrients Limitation. In: Drake HL (eds). Lonar Lake is also called Lonar Crater. Lacustrine Petroleum Source Rocks. Conservation and management for the Lonar crater-lake, Maharashtra, India. Its origin can be traced back to around 52,000 years ago as a result of an asteroid collision with Earth creating a crater 1.8Km wide and 450 feet deep . Nitritalea halalkaliphila gen. nov., sp. Carini SA, Joye SB . Maharashtra Tourism runs a resort just 50 meters from the lake. Hello friends, we all know the basic information about the historic monument i.e. Curr Microbiol 35: 257261. The shores of the lake are up to 130 meters high. Hunger S, Schmidt O, Hilgarth M, Horn MA, Kolb S, Conrad R et al. The Lonar Lake is home to a horde of algae and plankton species that thrive in its unusual ecosystem and give the water its vibrant color. Image of the Day Though located a world away, Lake Salda, Turkey, shares similar mineralogy as Jezero Crater on Mars. It is an ancient circular lake created by a meteorite strike in Maharashtra. Methylophaga alcalica sp. were also recovered from lake sediment microcosms containing enriched populations of methylotrophic bacteria. PubMed Motha Maruti temple is near the Ambar crater lake, with the idol made of rock believed to be fragment of the meteor that created the crater. It is the only salt water lake in the basaltic rock in the world. Alkaline environments and biodiversity, in extremophilies. Appl Environ Microbiol 73: 20932100. The lake's ecosystem is being damaged because of the sewage dump in the lake. Kenyan dispute illuminates bioprospecting difficulties. Buses to Lonar ply via Jalna and take about 5 hours. This natural structure has always been the point of attraction for scientists and tourists from across the world. Thakker CD, Ranade DR . Lonar Lake is 500 km from Mumbai in Buldhana district. Asao M, Pinkart HC, Madigan MT . Researchers have sent samples to labs to confirm why the. Direct evidence of impact-associated shocked materials at the crater established meteorite impact origin as the leading hypothesis for its formation (Fredriksson et al., 1973). It occurs as translucent, vitreous white to grey to yellow monoclinic prismatic crystals. It is an unstable mineral which dehydrates in dry air and decomposes in water. Khmelenina VN, Eshinimaev BT, Kalyuzhnaya MG, Trotsenko I . In comparison to Lonar Lake, the Rift valley soda lakes and Mono Lake have higher dissolved concentrations of chlorides, sulfates, sodium and potassium, whereas the reverse holds true in the case of dissolved organic nitrogen and nitrate levels (Table 1). Exploration of microbial diversity and community structure of Lonar Lake: the only hypersaline meteorite crater lake within basalt rock. and Methanoculleus sp. The unusual geochemistry of these lakes supports the growth of an impressive array of microorganisms that are of ecological and economic importance. Lonar Lake, India: an impact crater in basalt. There are temples around 1250 years ago. Extremophiles 2: 191200. The salinity of this lake is increasing due to less rainfall, low human intervention, and an increase in the . Intermediary ecosystem metabolism as a main driver of methanogenesis in acidic wetland soil. Depth-based molecular profiling of bacterial communities in the Mono Lake water column showed differences in diversity between surface and bottom layers. Front. 2023 Atlas Obscura. Several 16S rRNA gene sequences related to putative novel Archaea (Euryarchaeota) were retrieved from the alkaline saltern at Lake Magadi, Kenya (Grant et al., 1999). 1. You must have imagined this huge lake at Lonar from the erosion of the entire surface of the earth and the rocky soil that has been hit by it so fast. Serious conservation and ecosystem management is needed to protect soda lakes, which may be perturbed by anthropogenic activity (Gebre-Mariam, 1998; Chakravarty, 2009). Methylophaga lonarensis, a novel moderately haloalkaliphilic methylotroph isolated from the soda lake sediments of a meteorite impact crater. Assessment of key structural genes (pmoA, mmoX, mxaF and mauA) revealed many methylotrophs (Supplementary Figure S1) (Antony et al., unpublished). He was killed by lord Vishnu in his Daityasudan Avatar hence the name. (1989). Its water is alkaline. (2006). Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS). Abundances of cultivatable aerobic Bacteria in Lonar Lake water and sediment samples were approximately 102104CFUml1 and 102106CFUg1, respectively (Joshi et al., 2008). (Lin et al., 2004). A very interesting place to visit. In this way, water salinity and algae can be behind the water pinking. The second chamber is called antarl where individual pooja are performed, on the roof of this block one can see beautiful cravings of puranic stories viz. [7] It is surrounded by forests with a large variety of birds, particularly peacocks, owls, red-wattled lapwings and ducks. 2013;7(3): 468476. Image of the Day (2016). For a list of trails, stop at the visitor center in town. That was the question on people's minds across India after Lonar Lake in the state of Maharashtra suddenly changed hues in recent days. When you walk along the path on 1.8-kilometre periphery of its rim as we did, you'll encounter everything from ancient temples to dancing peacocks and pack mules. Distribution and diversity of soda lake alkaliphiles. volume7,pages 468476 (2013)Cite this article, A Corrigendum to this article was published on 21 May 2013. Exploration of Microbial Diversity and Community Structure of Lonar Sorokin DY, Foti M, Pinkart HC, Muyzer G . They are used for bathing, washing clothes and cattle, and other domestic purposes by the local people, pilgrims, and tourists.