In South Africa, in the Soutpansberg mountains near the capital Pretoria, there is an amazing African lake. There are several legends and seemingly inexplicable mysteries about him. True, scientists are diligently looking for and even finding answers to them.
The lake was discovered relatively recently - in 1917. And they found the lake only thanks to searches in these places for deposits of chrome ores. After this discovery, geologists have been exploring this place for eleven years. But then they only managed to collect only local legends about Lake Funduji, similar more to fantasy than to real events. Residents of nearby villages completely bypassed the lake and did not even want to even approach it.
The first riddle - where does the water from the lake go? Indeed, many rivers and streams flow into Funduji, but the water level in the lake remains almost the same. And it is also not clear why ebb and flow periodically occur in the lake. And this despite the fact that the lake is in no way connected with either the sea or the ocean. The water level during these mysterious ebb and flow changes within one and a half meters.
The answer to the first question is a dam near the lake, through which water from Funduji can flow into the nearby Limpopo River. In order to answer the second question, it was necessary to analyze the composition of lake water. Due to the large amount of chromium ore in this area, the water is a chromium-containing solution. Scientists suggest that some of the chromium salts are in the form of sediment at the bottom of the lake. And the remaining part cools down at night and forms crystalline hydrates, which have a smaller specific volume than the solution. Therefore, the so-called low tide occurs at night: part of the lake water turns into a solid state. And in the morning, when it gets warmer, crystalline hydrates turn into liquid again and a "tide" is observed.
Local residents also told about the strangest riddle, and the first researchers of lake water saw an amazing phenomenon with their own eyes. According to legend, water from Lake Funduji cannot be drawn. The researchers became interested in this fact and first collected water in plastic bottles and then in glass ones. When they departed a decent distance from the lake, or - the water in some mysterious way really disappeared.
When they began to study this issue in more detail and deeply, it turned out that this phenomenon was explained by the same chrome mines located nearby. It turned out that the water doesn't really disappear anywhere. And just again, under the influence of low temperature, saturated with chromium salts, it crystallizes, but remains in the same vessel where it was poured. It's just that it is no longer in a liquid state, but in a crystalline state. Therefore, it is impossible to carry away water from the lake only in a liquid state.
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There are other stories of lake water poisoning, which is dark almost black in color. One of the researchers inadvertently dipped his finger into the lake water and tasted it. He died a little more than a week later. And this is also due to the presence of chromium salts. This element can react and form compounds that are deadly poisonous to humans.