dry lake
Evaporated desert basin
A dry lake is a basin that once held water but has evaporated, leaving a flat, hard-packed surface of sediment.
These formations are common in arid regions and go by various names: playa, salt flat, alkali flat.
The smooth terrain makes dry lakes natural sites for land speed records and emergency aircraft landings: We drove across the dry lake at dawn.
- playaDried lakebed in desert
- salt flatEvaporated lakebed crust
- desertTo leave behind completely
- endorheic basinDrainage area lacking outflow
- rain shadowPrecipitation-starved leeward region
depression · evaporation · hardpan · Bonneville · land speed record · salt crust · Great Basin · mirage · dust devil · halite · salt pan · salt deposits · pan · cracked · cracked earth · gypsum · white · sediment
- American desertsMojave Desert, Sonoran Desert, Death Valley, Painted Desert, Mojave
- Western Landscapesmesa, butte, canyon, arroyo, sagebrush
- Outbackoutback, station, red sand, cattle station, dust storm
- Desert PlacesSahara, Gobi, Mojave, Kalahari, Namib
- Great BasinGreat Basin, Nevada, sagebrush, salt flats, playas
- Mojave DesertMojave Desert, Joshua tree, Joshua Tree, desert tortoise, Death Valley