Garabogazköl

The Garabogazköl, or Garabogazköl Aylagy, is a shallow, highly-saline water-filled depression in the northwestern corner of Turkmenistan. It forms a lagoon of the Caspian Sea and has a variable surface area, being about 18,000 km². The Caspian Sea proper sits immediately to the west, mostly divorced by a narrow, rocky ridge having a very narrow opening through which the Caspian waters flow, overwhelmingly, into it. There is likely to be a subterranean highly saline flow, only when there is less evaporation in winter, as in the case of the Turkish Straits year-round. The lagoon's volume fluctuates seasonally, accentuated by its salt evaporation ponds and natural counterpart surrounding, seasonally dry salt pans. ()