One of the smaller lakes of the East African Rift is rich with mud, fish, and geologic beauty.
Published Jul 12, 2020
These images provide wide-area and close-up views of Suguta, today a mostly dry valley, several thousand years ago a massive lake.
Published Nov 20, 2011
Declining water levels in this saline lake in northwestern China have exposed playa prone to producing dust storms.
Published Nov 25, 2014
Straddling Austria and Hungary, the lake is also known as the “Sea of the Viennese.”
Published Apr 10, 2017
Italy’s largest lake is situated where the southern Alps meet the Po River Valley.
Published Mar 5, 2018
Lake Teletskoye, one of Siberia’s prime tourist destinations, is a large lake that is nestled in a narrow valley between the snow-capped Al-tyntu (west, at top) and Korbu (east, at bottom) mountain ridges of the Altai Mountains. The lake is nearly 80 kilometers long by 5 kilometers wide and 325 meters deep; it is one of the deepest lakes in the world. But Lake Teletskoye is more than a large, deep lake. It is located within the 9,000 km² Altaisky Zapovednik nature reserve, which helps protect its unspoiled waters.
Published Oct 11, 2004
If Lake Natron, in Africa’s Great Rift Valley, had a color theme, it would be pink. The alkali salt crust on the surface of the lake is often colored red or pink by the salt-loving microorganisms that live there. Also, the lake is the only breeding area for the 2.5 million Lesser Flamingoes that live in the valley. These flamingoes flock along saline lakes in the region, where they feed on Spirulina, a blue-green algae with red pigments. This mosaic of photographs of the southern portion of Lake Natron shows the largest open lagoon area, and island mud flat, and a large area of pink salt crust. The colors show the actual colors viewed by the astronauts. Each time the lake is photographed, there are differences in the pattern of its salt crust, and the red colors of the blue-green algae and bacteria on the surface of the crust.
Published Apr 10, 2006
At the juncture of the border between China and Russia sits Lake Khanka, also known as Lake Xinghai. Due to their importance to plant and animal species, the lake and the surrounding wetlands are protected by the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the protection and sustainable use of wetlands. Migratory birds that frequent this lake include several endangered species, such as the Japanese crane.
Published Feb 18, 2007
The spits etched into a desert in Chad were actually formed thousands of years ago along the shores of a vast lake.
Published Feb 17, 2020
Long and short. Deep and shallow. Salty and fresh. Blue and brown. These are Africa’s Lake Tanganyika and Lake Rukwa.
Published Jun 20, 2019
The light tan oval in this image is the floor of a lake in central Italy that has been drained by a tunnel dug through the surrounding hills. Numerous rectangular fields occupy the former lake bottom—now one of the most fertile regions of Italy. The area is still referred to as “Fucine Lake,” even though the lake has been dry for nearly 150 years.
Published Mar 17, 2008
