Int’l team to study giant Van Lake microbialites

VAN

The microbialites in Van Lake will be studied through a series of advanced analyses as part of a project involving five universities from Türkiye, Italy, Poland, and China. (DHA Photo)

An international team of scientists will launch fieldwork in eastern Türkiye to investigate Van Lake’s massive microbialites starting Sept. 28, seeking clues to how the lake evolved over millennia.

Researchers from five universities in Türkiye, Italy, Poland and China will collect 40 to 50 samples from the lake. The project, supported by the Van Yüzüncü Yıl University (YYÜ) Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit, includes Pamukkale University alongside international partners.

Reaching sizes up to 40 meters, the coral-like structures contain nanospheres scientists believe are key to their formation. The team will dive off the coasts of Ahlat, Adilcevaz and the Altınsaç region of Gevaş to gather samples. Researchers will hand-carry the materials to Italy to prevent degradation.

Laboratories in Italy will run advanced chemical and imaging tests on the samples, including scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, micro-Raman, X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry.

Associate Professor Çetin Yeşilova, from the YYÜ Engineering Faculty Geological Engineering Department, said the international team previously studied Salda Lake.

“Microbialites up to 40 meters exist in Van Lake, ranking among the largest and most widely distributed examples globally,” he said. “We want to make deductions about their formation conditions and the geological evolution of Van Lake.”

Yeşilova said the project will answer how and why the structures formed, as their exact origins and contributing factors remain unknown.

Türkiye’s largest body of water, Lake Van, is a massive endorheic lake with alkaline waters that support a unique environment for microbialites, which are rock-like underwater structures formed by microorganisms over thousands of years.