Findings of the report:

• According to a study, the colour of water in Lonar Lake in Maharashtra turned pink due to a large presence of the salt-loving Haloarchaea microbes.
• Change in colour was not permanent.
• When the water was allowed to stand still, the biomass settled down, concluding that it was the biomass of these microbes that turned the surface of the water red or pink.

About Haloarchaea:

• A bacteria culture, which produces pink pigment.
• Found in water saturated with salt.

About Lonar Lake:

• Notified National Geo-heritage Monument.
• Geological Survey of India (GSI) is the parent body, which is making efforts towards identification and protection of geo-heritage sites.
• Created by an asteroid collision with earth impact during the Pleistocene Epoch.
• One of the four known, hyper-velocity, impact craters in basaltic rock anywhere on Earth.
• The other three basaltic impact structures are in southern Brazil.
• Sits inside the Deccan Plateau.
• The water in the lake is both saline and alkaline.

Reference: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/lonar-lake-turned-pink-due-to-haloarchaea-microbes-probe/article32161619.ece#:~:text=News-,Lonar%20lake%20in%20Maharashtra's%20Buldhana%20district%20turned,to%20'Haloarchaea'%20microbes%3A%20probe&text=The%20colour%20of%20Lonar%20lake,Pune%2Dbased%20institute%20has%20concluded.

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