On Salt Lakes
Ten million years ago, Western Australia was crossed by great river valleys. As the climate dried, the rivers slowed and their valleys filled with sediment. Eventually, surface flow ceased, and groundwater moving slowly through the valley fill became sufficient for regional drainage.
Over the last million years, chains of ephemeral lakes formed across these flat landscapes — quiet traces of the ancient rivers. Groundwater remains just below the surface, and evaporation concentrates salt. Today, these lakes are vast, hyper-saline flats of halite and gypsum.
I find the scale, contrast, and solitude of these landscapes compelling.
Around the margins, sand and weathered regolith form low rises. Eucalypts and acacia reach toward the lake edges, sustained by freshwater lenses after rain. Samphire grows at the margins — a salt-tolerant succulent storing moisture in fleshy stems.
Lake Moore, WA
Lake Johnstone, WA
The salt flats themselves appear dry and solid, until stepped upon. The crust fractures, and beneath lies thick saline clay, saturated by shallow groundwater brine.
On two occasions, I have gone to bed beside a dry lake and woken to water extending for kilometres — without any rain.
The first time at Lake Ninan, I watched the water slowly advance at sunrise. It moved across the lake almost imperceptibly, a metre every few seconds. I was focused on the viewfinder until I noticed my tripod feet standing in shallow water. A quiet but urgent retreat followed — slipping through broken crust and thick mud to retrieve my backpack before the water reached it.
The second time at Lake Johnstone, I simply woke to a flooded lake.
At night, evaporation stops. Small changes in atmospheric pressure may also play a role. Together, these subtle shifts allow groundwater to rise slowly, flooding the lake by only a few millimetres — but across vast distances.
It is a quiet process, almost invisible, yet it transforms the landscape overnight.
It reminds me of how finely balanced these environments are — and how much happens when nothing appears to change.
dry salt lake
saturated
without rain
