Why do lakes in endorheic drainage basins often become saline?

Lakes in endorheic drainage basins—closed basins without an outlet—frequently become saline due to the imbalance between water input and output.12

In these systems, water enters primarily through precipitation, surface runoff, and groundwater discharge. Because there is no outlet for the water to flow out of the basin, the only significant mechanism for water loss is evaporation. While water evaporates, the dissolved minerals and salts carried into the lake by runoff and weathering remain behind. Over time, as this process repeats, these salts accumulate, leading to a gradual increase in the lake's salinity.213

This phenomenon is particularly common in arid and semiarid regions where evaporation rates consistently exceed the rate of water inflow. Consequently, these lakes are highly sensitive to climatic shifts and human activities, such as the diversion of freshwater for irrigation, which can further reduce water volume and accelerate the concentration of salts.123