# Chott
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{{Short description|Dry lake in the Saharan area of Africa}}
{{About||the village|Chott, Algeria|the American actor and comedian|Bill Chott|the Filipino basketball head coach|Chot Reyes}}
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In [geology](/source/geology), a '''chott''', '''shott''', or '''shatt''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʃ|ɒ|t}}; {{langx|ar|شط|šaṭṭ|lit=bank, coast}}) is a [salt lake](/source/salt_lake) in [Africa](/source/Africa)'s [Maghreb](/source/Maghreb) that stays dry for much of the year but receives some water in the winter. The elevation of a chott surface is controlled by the position of the water table and [capillary fringe](/source/capillary_fringe), with sediment deflation occurring when the water table falls and sediment accumulation occurring when the water table rises.[Swezey, C.S., 2003, The role of climate in the creation and destruction of continental
stratigraphic records: An example from the northern margin of the Sahara Desert, in Cecil, C.B., and Edgar, N.T., eds., Climate Controls on Stratigraphy: SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology) Special Publication 77, p. 207-225.
] They are formed—within variable shores—by the spring thaw from the [Atlas mountain range](/source/Atlas_Mountains), along with occasional rainwater or [groundwater](/source/groundwater) sources in the [Sahara](/source/Sahara), such as the [Bas Saharan Basin](/source/Bas_Saharan_Basin).[{{cite encyclopedia |last1= Ramdani|first1= Mohammed|last2= Elkhiat |first2= Najat|last3= Flower|first3= Roger J |editor= Likens, Gene E.|encyclopedia= Encyclopedia of Inland Waters|title= Africa: North of Sahara|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OzJOqh90RuwC |access-date=16 December 2012|year= 2010|publisher=Academic Press|volume=Lake Ecosystem Ecology|location=San Diego, CA |isbn=978-0123820020}}][{{cite book |last=Laity |first=Julie J. |title=Deserts and Desert Environments |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wtAbzLLTcwcC |access-date=16 December 2012 |series=Environmental Systems and Global Change Series |year=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |location=Chichester, UK |isbn=978-1444300741 }}]
==Water sources==
The chotts of the Sahara are fed intermittently during periods of infrequent rainfall. They are subject to a high evaporation rate, hence salts eventually accumulate in the surface of the sediment. In fact, annual evaporation rates per year in chotts often exceed 20 times the annual precipitation rate.[{{cite encyclopedia |last1= Komatsu|first1= Goro|last2= Ori |first2= Gian Gabriele |last3= Marinangeli |first3= Lucia |last4= Moersch|first4= Jeffrey E. |editor= Chapman, Mary |encyclopedia= The Geology of Mars: Evidence from Earth-Based Analogs|title= Playa environments on Earth: Possible analogs for Mars |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=96N2Ik3ABRYC |access-date=16 December 2012|edition=5th |year= 2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Chichester, UK |isbn=978-0521832922 }}]
==Sahara Sea==
As many lie below sea level, the chotts of the Sahara were viewed by some European colonialists and engineers as an opportunity to create an inland sea in the Sahara Desert (known by many as the "[Sahara Sea](/source/Sahara_Sea)") by cutting a canal to the Mediterranean Sea (or in some cases, the Atlantic Ocean). Such a channel would allow water from the sea to flow inland. The hope was that this would facilitate trade and naval warfare, as well as change the climatic conditions of the Sahara.[{{cite book |last=Spinage |first=Clive Alfred |title=African Ecology: Benchmarks and Historical Perspectives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d3vOHF8PNKkC |access-date=16 December 2012 |edition=Illustrated |series=Springer Geography |year=2012 |publisher=Springer |location=New York |isbn=978-3642228711 }}]
==Analogue to Martian landforms==
Chotts have also been studied because they are believed to be an Earth analogue to similar features on the planet [Mars](/source/Mars). Although there are considerable differences between terrestrial and [Martian](/source/Geology_of_Mars) geology, some features on Mars are also believed to be evaporite basins, and consequently share at least some features of chotts. One example of a suspected Martian evaporite basin is [Holden Crater](/source/Holden_(Martian_crater)).