Dziani Dzaha is a maar the age of which is close to 4000 years. While its water is thought to
have originated from seawater it is now considered as an extreme environment due to its hypersaline
and alkaline characteristics. Those extreme features have led to the simplification of the trophic network.
Cyanobacteria account for up to 95% of the photosynthetic biomass. The main biogeochemical
processes, i.e. photosynthesis, bacterial sulfate reduction and methanogenesis could explain the current
water composition. As far as we know, this ecosystem could be unique on Earth, extending the
nature and chemical limits of aquatic inland ecosystems