Lonar Crater Lake Cosmic Origin

The wild map of Asia's geographical oddities

Chapter 1

Vertical extremes and sunken basins

Chapter 2

Waterways that break the rules

Chapter 3

Stone forests and painted mountains

Chapter 4

Island oddities and invisible borders

Ch 2 · Waterways that break the rules

schopenhauer Rule-Breaking Waterways

The Tonle Sap River turns right around—(Yeah, it turns around!) / Flowing backward to the lake upstream—(It breaks the rules!)

schopenhauer The cosmic origin of Lonar Crater Lake

The cosmic origin of Lonar Crater Lake

schopenhauer A rare basaltic impact crater lake located in India.

The split personality of Lake Balkhash

schopenhauer A massive Kazakh lake that is half fresh and half salty.

Quirky Currents

BETA

schopenhauer Swipe through bizarre landmarks to discover Asia's most unusual geographical oddities.

Fun Fact

Reversing river festival: The Tonle Sap's flow reversal is celebrated with Cambodia's Bon Om Touk water festival, marking the return of normal flow.

Glossary

reversing river (noun)
A river that temporarily changes its direction of flow due to seasonal pressure or tidal forces. Cambodia's Tonle Sap reverses its flow twice annually, driven by monsoon surges from the nearby Mekong River.

Gossip

Which water anomaly seems most magical?

Quiz

What unique physical adaptation do the Bengal tigers of the Sundarbans possess?

schopenhauer The split personality of Lake Balkhash

Quiz

Approximately how many years ago did the meteorite impact create Lonar Crater Lake?

schopenhauer The reversing flow of the Tonle Sap River

Quiz

How was the basin of the Lonar Lake in Maharashtra, India originally formed?

schopenhauer The shifting tides of the Sundarbans

Quiz

In which two countries is the massive Sundarbans mangrove forest located?

Quiz

Which river's monsoon flooding forces the Tonle Sap River in Cambodia to flow backward?

Quiz

What geographic feature divides Lake Balkhash into fresh and salty halves?

Quiz

Which river feeds the western, freshwater side of Kazakhstan's Lake Balkhash?

Quiz

How often do the tides in the Sundarbans cause some of its islands to submerge?