The Obruk Lakes (Konya)

The Obruk (karstic) Lakes, with their special features are only to be found in the Konya region in fact these Budurin lakes exist only in Turkey but for a very long time have been inaccurately named still today in some books on geography and geomorphology they are described as windows opening on to the surface of the earth from underground waters, whereas these Obruk lakes are opening from under-ground waterways, which were formed by the very seeping of water through fissures and crevices in the limestone rock.

The water of the Obruk lakes enters through one end and exits through the other. Actually as put forward in a number of geography books there is a movement in the bottom of the lake an emptying but the deep bowl in the shape of a basin cannot develop only through chemical erosion. When the movement of water results in a combination of chemical erosion rising from below to the surface and erosion downwards from the surface the last layer of rock which forms a very slender bridge finally collapses and a round or rather elliptical Obruk lake makes its appearance. The movement of the obruk lakes is very slow and cannot be seen with the naked eye. When the villagers wash wool in the lake, however pieces are found on the other Side of the lake the following morning. This indicates the movement and direction the lake moves in which is SE-NW. The Obruk lake region in the province of Konya lies in a north west direction in the district of Karapinar. Other lakes in this important region lie south and south east of Konya. the axis of these lakes is usually between 100-250 m.

Kizoren Obruk Lake

Sixty five km northeast in the province of Konya along the Aksaray-Nevsehir highway is the subdistrict of Kizoren, and 4 km to the north is an Obruk lake also known as the Kizoren Obruk. Lakes of similar formation in other places are also known as obruk. The long axis of Kizoren is 180 m. and the short axis 150 m. the depth 145 m. A quantity of 108 1. per second can be withdrawn from the lake.