Roughly 52,000 years ago, a fast-moving rock from space punched a 1.8-kilometre-wide hole into the basalt crust of the Deccan Plateau. The resulting crater, now occupied by Lonar Lake, lies in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district and is the only meteorite-impact structure of its kind in India.
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It was long mistaken for a volcanic feature until the 1970s, when studies confirmed the presence of maskelynite, a type of glass formed only under high-velocity impacts. The lake sits about 137 metres below the rim and holds saline, alkaline water, with slight chemical variations by depth.
In June 2020, it briefly turned pink after lower water levels and increased salt concentration triggered a bloom of Halobacterium, microbes that release reddish carotenoid pigments.
