Editing Lake Eyre (section)

==Geography==
[[File:LakeEyreSaltCrust.JPG|thumb|left|Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre salt crust]]
[[File:Lake eyre.JPG|thumb|Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre seen from an aircraft, showing pink colouration from algae]]
[[File:Lake Eyre.JPG|thumb|Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre South]]
Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre is in the [[Deserts of Australia|deserts]] of [[central Australia]], in northern South Australia. The Lake Eyre Basin is a large [[Endorheic basin|endorheic]] system surrounding the lakebed, the lowest part of which is filled with the characteristic [[salt pan (geology)|salt pan]] caused by the seasonal expansion and subsequent [[evaporation]] of the trapped waters. Even in the [[dry season]], there is usually some water remaining in Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, normally collecting in over 200 smaller sub-lakes within its margins. The lake was formed by [[aeolian processes]] after tectonic [[Anticline|upwarping]] occurred to the south subsequent to the end of the [[Pleistocene]] epoch.<ref name="lhlrr"/>

During the [[Wet season|rainy season]], rivers from the north-east part of the Lake Eyre Basin—in [[outback]] (south-west and central) Queensland—flow towards the lake through the [[Channel Country]]. The amount of water from the [[monsoon]] determines whether water will reach the lake and, if it does, how deep the lake will get. The average rainfall in the area of the lake is {{convert|100|to|150|mm}} per year.<ref name="lhlrr">{{cite book|title=The Lakes Handbook, Volume 2: Lake Restoration and Rehabilitation|last1=Reynolds|first1=C. S.|last2=O'Sullivan|first2=Patrick|year=2008|publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|John Wiley & Sons]]|isbn=978-1405141109|pages=233–235}}</ref>

The {{convert|-15|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} altitude usually attributed to Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre refers to the deepest parts of the lake floor, in Belt Bay and the Madigan Gulf. The shoreline lies at {{convert|-9|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523201740/http://www.ilec.or.jp/database/oce/oce-04.html|url=http://www.ilec.or.jp/database/oce/oce-04.html|archive-date=23 May 2012|title=LAKE EYRE|website=International Lake Environment Committee}}</ref> The lake is the area of maximum deposition of sediment in the Lake Eyre Basin.<ref name="dde">{{cite book|title=Deserts and Desert Environments|last=Laity|first=Julie J.|year=2009|publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|John Wiley & Sons]]|isbn=978-1444300741|page=112}}</ref>

Lake Eyre is divided into two sections which are joined by the Goyder Channel. These are known as Lake Eyre North, which is {{convert|144|km}} in length and {{convert|65|km}} wide, and Lake Eyre South, which measures {{convert|65|by|24|km}}.<ref name="law">{{cite book|title=Lakes and Wetlands|last=Rafferty|first=John P.|year=2011|publisher=[[Rosen Publishing|The Rosen Publishing Group]]|isbn=978-1615303205|page=186}}</ref> The salt crusts are thickest—up to {{convert|50|cm|abbr=on}}—in the southern Belt Bay, Jackboot Bay and Madigan Gulf sub-basins of Lake Eyre North.<ref>{{cite book|title=Natural History of the North East Deserts|chapter=Lake Eyre|last=Dulhunty|first=J. A.|publisher=[[Royal Society of South Australia]]|year=1990|editor1-last=Tyler|editor1-first=Michael J.|editor2-last=Twidale|editor2-first=C. R.|editor2-link=Charles Rowland Twidale|editor3-last=Davis|editor3-first=M.|editor4-last=Wells|editor4-first=C. B.|url=https://www.rssa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/nh_north_east_deserts.pdf|isbn=0-9596627-5-8|pages=101–104}}</ref>

Since 1883, proposals have been made to flood Lake Eyre with seawater brought to the basin via a canal or pipeline (such as the [[Bradfield Scheme]]). The purpose was, in part, to increase evaporation and thereby increase rainfall in the region downwind of an enlarged Lake Eyre.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Macro-engineering Australia’s Lake Eyre with imported seawater|last1=Badescu|first1=Viorel|last2=Cathcart|first2=Richard B.|last3=Bolonkin|first3=Alexander A.|last4=Paulescu|first4=Marius|last5=Gravila|first5=Paul|pages=264–284|date=June 2013|journal=International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development|volume=12|number=2|doi=10.1504/IJESD.2013.054956|issn=1474-6778}}</ref> The added rainfall has been modelled as small.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The rainfall response to permanent inland water in Australia|url=http://www.cmar.csiro.au/e-print/internal/mcgregor_x2004a.pdf|last1=Hope|first=Pandora K.|last2=Nicholls|first2=Neville|last3=McGregor|first3=John L.|date=December 2004|journal=[[Bureau of Meteorology|Australian Meteorological Magazine]]|volume=53|number=4|pages=251–262|access-date=28 March 2023}}</ref> Due to the basin's low elevation below sea level and the region's high annual evaporation rate (between {{convert|2500|and|3500|mm}}<ref>{{cite book|title=A Natural History of the Lake Eyre Region: A Visitor's Guide|last1=Badman|first1=Frank J.|last2=Arnold|first2=Brenton K.|last3=Bell|first3=Sharon L.|year=1991|publisher=[[National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia|National Parks and Wildlife Service]]'s Northern Consultative Committee|page=1|isbn=0646071831}}</ref>), such schemes have generally been considered impractical, as it is likely that accumulation of salt deposits would rapidly block the engineered channel.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/27516822|title=The Plan To Fill Lake Eyre|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|page=2|via=[[Trove]]|date=27 May 1954|access-date=28 March 2023}}</ref> At a rate of {{convert|1|cm|abbr=on}} evaporation per day, a {{convert|3|m|abbr=on}} viaduct flowing a {{convert|0.5|m/s|abbr=on}} would supply enough water to create a {{convert|100|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} sea. If brine water were not sent back to the ocean, it would precipitate {{convert|90000|LT}} of salt every year.{{Citation needed|date=June 2017}}