Xiezuo Lake

Xiezuo Lake^[a] is a lake in the northeastern Qarhan Playa north of Golmud in Dulan County, Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China. Like the other lakes of the surrounding Qaidam Basin, it is extremely saline.

Xiezuo Lake
协作湖 (Chinese)
Xiezuo Lake
Location	Dulan County Haixi Prefecture Qinghai Province China
Coordinates	36°57′43.5″N 95°36′16.5″E
Type	Endorheic saline lake
Primary inflows	Quanji River
Basin countries	China
Surface area	17 km2 (6.6 sq mi)
Surface elevation	2,680 m (8,790 ft)

Xiezuo Lake
Traditional Chinese	協作湖
Simplified Chinese	协作湖
Literal meaning	Cooperation Lake Working-Together Lake
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiézuò Hú Wade–Giles Hsieh-tso Hu

Geography

Xiezuo Lake lies at the northern edge of the Qaidam subbasin^[3] of the eastern Qarhan Playa at an elevation of 2,680 m (8,790 ft)^[4] or 2,691 m (8,829 ft).^[5] It has an area of about 17 km² (6.6 sq mi).^[5] It lies northeast of Dabusun Lake, north of Tuanjie Lake, and west of North Hulsan Lake^[3] and is periodically fed by the Quanji River^[6] (全集河, Quánjí Hé) and mineral springs from the north. Although the volume of water from the springs is much smaller, their much higher concentration of solutes is important to the lake's chemical composition.^[7] The lake's depth usually does not exceed 1 m (3 ft 3 in).^[4]

The crescent shape of the lake reflects its bed's origin as the alluvial fan of a now-dry river.^[8]

Gallery

Photographs of the large salt pans in and around Xiezuo Lake taken by a member of Expedition 16 from the International Space Station (2007)

See also

• Qarhan Playa & Qaidam Basin
• List of lakes and saltwater lakes of China

Notes

1. Misspelled "Xiezhuo" in Spencer & al.,^[1] Lowenstein & al.,^[2] and others.