Acıgöl is a volcanic maar lake located in Turkey, north of
the Karapınar-Ereğli road and 2.7 km northeast of the Meke Crater Lake. It is
known for its bitter and salty waters containing magnesium sulfate and various
bacterial species. The area has experienced numerous volcanic events, resulting
in the formation of various features such as andesite-basalt rocks, lava flows,
tuff cones, and maars in the region known as the Central Anatolian Volcanic
Province. As a result, Acıgöl is considered one of Turkey's most important
natural attractions.
Acıgöl is a volcanic maar lake formed due to the Karacadağ
volcanic activity occurred in the Pliocene Epoch in the region. Acıgöl Maar has
a diameter of 1.5 km and is 988 m above sea level, with an area of 400 hectares
and elliptical shape. Its width is between 1750 m and 1250 m. The long axis of
the lake area is 1340 m and the short axis is 1065 m. The water level in the
lake, whose waters are highly sulfated and salty, is decreasing day by day.
According to monthly water level measurements made by DSI between 1966 and 2016
in the Acıgöl, the water level decreased from 150 cm to 76 cm.
Acıgöl Maar, like Meke Maar and many other maars in the
region, was formed by the emptying of the underground magma chamber and the
collapse of its ceiling. The maars are elliptical eruption pits with a width of
1.5 km formed on the lava flows rising above the Konya Lake level. The crater
floors are below the lake level with an elevation of 1015 m. Acıgöl Maar was
formed by erupting from the same center with the source of the hyaloclastic
tuffs settled around it before.
Acıgöl is located in a crater formed by an eruption in a
volcanic area on the southeast edge of Karacadağ. The lake shores are quite
steep. The waters are salty and bitter due to magnesium sulfate. Bacterial and
archaeal species have been identified in the lake. The species Marinobacter,
Idiomarina, and Thalassospira were first described in Acıgöl and in Turkey.
In the Middle Miocene, the Arabian Plate and the Eurasian
Plate approached each other, resulting in numerous volcanic events in the
region during the Upper Miocene and Quaternary periods, in areas known as the
Cappadocia Volcanic Complex and the Central Anatolian Volcanic Province. As a
result of these activities in Central Anatolia, rocks with andesite-basalt
composition, lava flows, scoria cones, and maars were formed between Mount
Hasan and Karapınar. Acıgöl, Meke Lakes, Yılan Sinkhole, and Meke Sinkhole,
which are located in the region, are grouped under the Karapınar Group.
The basaltic rocks found in Acıgöl and Meke Lakes, which are
part of the Quaternary Volcanism in Central Anatolia, are derived from the deep
mantle and are the product of their settling into the area due to the effect of
continental crust.
The infiltration of groundwater and surface waters into the
magma chamber caused volcanic gas explosions.
Volcanic ash clouds dispersed from radial eruption centers
enabled the volcanic tuffs bearing traces of currents (mini-cross bedding, wavy
forms) and volcanic bomb depressions to acquire a base-surge structure around
the maars and in the shallow water environment.
There are many spring outflows containing CO2 and sulphate
along the beach and shoreline formed on the eastern shore of Acıgöl. In this
section, new tufa formations occur due to algae, especially on the southern
shores of the lake. Tufa formations are geologically very interesting
structures in that they occur in such a salty lake and should be protected as a
geological heritage site.
The sulfated and salty waters of Acıgöl are a resting place
on the flight paths of migratory birds, such as coot and eurasian coot, ruddy
shelduck, snipe, hoopoe, golden eagle, scavenger vultures, long-legged buzzard,
chukar, green jay, stilt, bullfinch, etc. and host many migratory bird species.