Its underlying salt has also trapped one of China's largest onshore natural gas fields.

Suli[1][2] and Sheli[2] are romanizations of the lake's Mongolian name, which derives from a word for "temples" or "sideburns".

Suli Lake lies in the Bieletan subbasin[4] at the western edge of the Qarhan Playa at an elevation of 2,675.6 m (8,778 ft).

[1] It is fed from the west by the Urt Moron or Utumeiren[6] (t 烏圖美仁河, s 乌图美仁河, Wūtúměirén Hé).

[15] During the Neogene, tectonic shifts made the bed of Suli Lake the lowest point of the Qaidam Basin, 3,200 m (10,500 ft) below its ridge.