Red and white: who draws on Iranian lake?

The astronaut on Board the international space station captured a fragment of the lake Maharlou in the mountains in the South-West of Iran. Annual evaporation in the desert is much more than the amount of precipitation that even the river can not save the pond from drying out. And, as often happens with these lakes, tens of thousands of years it accumulates white salt flowing down from the surrounding mountains.

But when fresh water from rivers reaches the bottom of the lake, may be new colors — thanks to the proliferation of algae. In this picture shows a part with the water-rich red organisms. In the middle of the image green band of wetland vegetation, contrasting with the bright bottom.

The photo was taken in the year 2016 by using a lens with a longer focal length and allows to consider the fine details of the lake and surrounding terrain.

Three rivers flowing into the lake, was artificially transformed into direct channels to irrigate the fields. At the left edge you can see the buildings of the city Shiraz, which is 25 km from the coast. As in other closed basins, located in the desert, in the lake Maharlu accumulates not only salt, but chemicals floating downstream from Shiraz.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»