Lake Urmia (or Ormiyeh) is one of the largest hypersaline lakes in …

• Abstract
• Background
• Geology
• Sediments
• Hydrology
• The basin
• Morphometry
• Causeway project
• Hydrochemistry
• Main ions
• Exploitation
• Artemia biology
• Bisexual vs. parthenogenetic Artemia
• Ecology
• Phytoplankton
• Bacteriology
• Conservation and management
• Acknowledgements
• References
• Figures

The main cations in the lake water include Na⁺, K⁺, Ca⁺², Li⁺ and Mg⁺², while Cl^-, SO₄ ^-2, HCO₃ ^- are the main anions [18]. The Na⁺ and Cl^- concentration is roughly 4 times the concentration of natural seawater [9]. Sodium ions are at slightly higher concentration in the south compared to the north of the lake, which could result from the shallower depth in the south, and a higher net evaporation rate [36,37].