Which one of the following is a crater lake in India?
- (a)Lonar Lake
- (b)Sambhar Lake
- (c)Chilika Lake
- (d)Vembanad Lake
Correct — A, Lonar Lake. Lonar Lake in Buldhana district, Maharashtra, sits inside a bowl blasted out of the Deccan basalt by a meteorite impact, so it is a genuine crater (impact) lake — the only one of its kind formed in basalt on the Indian mainland. Sambhar is a saline lake in an inland drainage basin, while Chilika and Vembanad are coastal lagoons; none of them owes its origin to a crater.
- (b)Sambhar Lake — Sambhar in Rajasthan is India's largest inland salt lake, formed in a shallow tectonic depression — it is not a crater lake.
- (c)Chilika Lake — Chilika, on the Odisha coast, is a brackish coastal lagoon separated from the Bay of Bengal by a sand bar, not a crater.
- (d)Vembanad Lake — Vembanad in Kerala is a backwater lagoon — the longest lake in India — formed behind coastal barriers, not by an impact.
Lakes are classified by how their basins form. A crater lake fills a depression made by a volcanic explosion or a meteorite impact. Lonar Lake is a rare impact-crater lake because it was excavated by a meteorite striking the hard Deccan basalt, giving it both saline and alkaline water.
The distractors are all famous Indian lakes, so the sorting rule is origin, not fame: only Lonar comes from a crater, while the others are salt-pan or coastal-lagoon lakes.
- Lonar Lake lies in Buldhana district, Maharashtra, within the Deccan Traps basalt.
- It is a meteorite-impact (crater) lake, notable for water that is both saline and alkaline.
- Sambhar (Rajasthan) is India's largest inland salt lake; Chilika (Odisha) and Vembanad (Kerala) are coastal lagoons.
- Vembanad is the longest lake in India and Chilika is a major brackish-water lagoon and bird habitat.
- Picking a lake because it is famous rather than because of its crater origin.
- Confusing a coastal lagoon (Chilika, Vembanad) or a salt lake (Sambhar) with a crater lake.
Asked as 'which one is a crater lake' among well-known lakes — sort by mode of basin formation, not by fame.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Lonar Lake, a crater lake, is located in which one of the following states?
- (a)Madhya Pradesh
- (b)Maharashtra
- (c)Rajasthan
- (d)Gujarat
Answer(b) Maharashtra — it lies in Buldhana district within the Deccan basalt.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is a coastal lagoon?
- (a)Lonar Lake
- (b)Sambhar Lake
- (c)Chilika Lake
- (d)Wular Lake
Answer(c) Chilika Lake — a brackish lagoon on the Odisha coast.