A fact that actually not only makes one lake on the outskirts of Syracuse unique, but incredibly rare too.

Now, you might be asking yourself, what exactly makes a lake rare? Like humans, every lake is unique, the same could be said for any body of water. As for rare, Green Lake in Fayetteville has a characteristic that is only found in 36 lakes nationwide, that alone means not everyone has a lake like Green Lake.

So, What Is It?

Green Lake is considered to be a Meromictic lake. That term basically means while other lakes and bodies of water will cycle through its sediment and it will move throughout the water on a yearly basis, Green Lake does not. In Green Lake, every aspect of the sediment stays completely put year round, which is incredibly rare across not only the United States, but the world. Another aspect that is cool to think about is how the layers at the bottom of the lake could potentially date back thousands of years

This Lake Has A Lot of History

The even more interesting fact is that we are still learning about this specific type of lake. Learning in general began in Central New York. The biomes in a lake of this nature is still fairly unknown, but Green Lake has the most history. Studies date back to 1839, making it the first lake of this kind discovered.

New York Natural Heritage even calls Green Lake New York's best example of what a Meromictic lake is. Hamilton College a decade ago delved into some research of the 'rare ecosystem' that Green Lake is occupied by. More on that research can be found here.