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]] OCCURRENCE ]] Approximately 18 percent of the earth's land drains to endorheic lakes or seas, the largest of these land areas being the interior of Asia. In hot deserts water inflow is low and loss to solar evaporation high, drastically reducing the formation of complete Drainage Systems . Closed water flow areas often lead to the concentration of salts and other minerals in the basin. Minerals leached from the surrounding rocks are deposited in the basin, and left behind when the water evaporates. Thus endorheic basins often contain extensive Salt Pan s (also called salt flats, Salt Lake s, Alkali flats or Playa s). These areas tend to be large, flat hardened surfaces and are sometimes used for Aviation Runway s or Land Speed Record attempts. Both permanent and seasonal endorheic lakes can form in endorheic basins. Some endorheic basins are essentially stable, climate change having reduced precipitation to the degree that a lake no longer forms. Even the endorheic lakes that exist permanently, most change size and shape dramatically over time, often becoming dramatically smaller or breaking into several smaller parts during the dry season. As humans have expanded into previously uninhabitable desert areas, the river systems that feed many endorheic lakes have been altered by the construction of dams and aqueducts. As a result many endorheic lakes in developed or developing countries have contracted dramatically, resulting in increased salinity, higher concentrations of pollutants, and the subsequent disruption of the lake's ecosystem. NOTABLE ENDORHEIC BASINS AND LAKES One of the few endorheic lakes in a cold desert location, Antarctica 's Lake Vida remains liquid because its salinity is seven times that of seawater. Asia , a giant inland basin]] Much of western and Central Asia is a single, giant inland basin. It contains a number of lakes, including:
The Dead Sea , the lowest surface point on Earth and one of its saltiest bodies of water, lies between Israel and Jordan . Australia Australia , being very dry and having exceedingly low runoff ratios due to its ancient soils, has a great prominence of variable, endorheic drainages. The most important are:
's Africa
North America ,Satellite photo (2003} after five years of Drought ]]
Europe Minor additional endorheic lakes exist throughout the mediterranean countries Spain (e.g. Laguna De Gallocanta ), Italy and Greece . South America
Ancient Some of the Earth's ancient endorheic systems include:
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