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LiveScience
LiveScience
David Strayer

'A challenge and an opportunity for evolution': The extreme, hidden life thriving in Earth's most acidic and alkaline lakes

Sulfuric lake of Kawah Ijen Mountain's cauldron in the Banyuwangi Regency of East Java.

A volcanic crater in Indonesia over 7,700 feet (2,350 meters) above sea level is home to Earth's largest acidic lake, with water like battery acid. In this excerpt from "Beyond The Sea: The Hidden Life in Lakes, Streams, and Wetlands" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2024), author David Strayer examines the extreme chemistry of some of our planet's natural lakes — and the life they host.


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