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Sutton Salt Lake

Depth: 0.5 metres

Area: 3.8 hectares

Altitude: 254 metres

Lake ID: 7219

Main vegetation type:
Low Producing Grassland

Middlemarch

Otago
45° 34' 35" S
170° 5' 12" E
Lowland

Iwi / representative groups:

  • Ngāi Tahu
    • Kāti Huirapa ki Puketeraki
    • Te Rūnanga o Moeraki

Description

Sutton Salt Lake is New Zealand’s only inland salt lake, with water about half as salty as seawater. Formed in a windy cool-temperate maritime climate, the lake is distinctly different from most of the world’s saline lakes that form in arid continental settings. The site receives c. 500 mm/year rainfall and the surface evaporation rate is high (c. 700 mm/year) because of frequent strong winds. Sediments on the lake floor are derived by rain and wind erosion of the surrounding bedrock. The lakes water is derived entirely from rainwater, rather than groundwater. The lake salinity is derived from marine aerosols in rainwater concentrated by repeatedly filling, evaporating and refilling. The lake occupies an enclosed shallow basin in the schist rock landscape. (www.otago.ac.nz/geology)
With considerable variety of saline habitats around its margin and in adjacent slightly saline boggy depressions it is home to an endemic aquatic species.

7219

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Our Lakes

  • All Lakes
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    • Northland
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    • Manawatū/Whanganui
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    • West Coast
    • Marlborough
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    • Otago
    • Southland
  • Coastal Lakes
  • Lowland Lakes
  • Highland Lakes
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About

  • The Project
  • The Science
    • Field Sampling
    • Laboratory Analysis
    • Student Projects
  • Science Aims
  • Rohe Studies
    • Rangitīkei Iwi Rohe Study
    • Wairarapa Moana iwi rohe study
  • Virtual Experience
  • Social Science
  • Iwi Relationships
  • The Team
    • Advisory Groups
    • Lakes380 Co-lead Institutes​
    • National Collaborators
    • International Collaborators
  • Partners

Resources

  • Contact & Links
  • Blog, News & Publications
  • Video Gallery
  • Results
  • Glossary