Images related to Imperial Valley and Salton Sea, California

Salton Sea
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Salton Sea

Dividing up water resources in southern California is always a controversial activity. Water allocations for the agriculture in the Imperial Valley, the Salton Sea, and the expanding urban and residential growth in San Diego County were in limbo until a recent agreement was drafted, allowing San Diego to buy conserved Colorado River water from the Imperial Valley. This astronaut photograph details an algal bloom in the Salton Sea, where such blooms continue to be a problem. They are caused by high concentrations of nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorous, that drain into the basin from the agricultural run-off. As the algae dies and decomposes, oxygen levels in the sea drop, causing fish kills and hazardous conditions for other wildlife.

Published Nov 10, 2003

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Salton Trough
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Salton Trough

Along the border of Mexico and the U.S., a geologically and tectonically complex area serves as a visual reference point for astronauts on the International Space Station.

Published Jul 29, 2013

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Shrinking Shoreline of the Salton Sea
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Shrinking Shoreline of the Salton Sea

California’s largest lake is shrinking, and an unusual combination of conservation, drought, and water laws may someday take it away.

Published Oct 9, 2015

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Phytoplankton Blooms in the Black Sea
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Phytoplankton Blooms in the Black Sea

Published Jun 26, 2006

Water Color

Aral Sea 2011
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Aral Sea 2011

Once the world’s fourth largest lake, the rapidly shrinking Aral Sea has fragmented into four bodies of water. The Southern Aral Sea and Tsche-Bas Gulf show the most dramatic change in 2011.

Published Sep 11, 2011

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Blooms in the Sea of Marmara
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Blooms in the Sea of Marmara

Freshened surface water and abundant nutrients lead to an explosion of algae in the inland sea.

Published May 31, 2015

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Zaliv Kara-Bogaz-Gol, Caspian Sea
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Zaliv Kara-Bogaz-Gol, Caspian Sea

This view shows the sun reflecting off the surface waters that surround the spit that defines the Zaliv Kara-Bogaz-Gol from the open Caspian Sea. The sunglint reveals the flow of fresher water through the spit channel and into the bay.

Published Jul 14, 2002

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Retreating Aral Sea Coastlines
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Retreating Aral Sea Coastlines

The arrow-shaped island in the Aral Sea used to be a 35-kilometer-long visual marker, indicating the Aral Sea to astronauts. An image from the present International Space Station increment shows how much the coastline has changed as the sea level has dropped during the last three decades.

Published Aug 15, 2005

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Amistad Reservoir
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Amistad Reservoir

Published Sep 1, 2003

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Dust Storm, Aral Sea
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Dust Storm, Aral Sea

The Aral Sea has shrunk to less than half its size since 1985. It receives little water (sometimes none) from the two major rivers that empty into it—the Syr Darya and Amu Darya. Instead, the river water is diverted to support irrigation for the region’s extensive cotton fields. Recently, water scarcity has increased due to a prolonged drought in Central Asia. As the Aral Sea recedes, its former seabed is exposed. The Aral’s sea bed is composed of fine sediments—including fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals—that are easily picked up by the region’s strong winds, creating thick dust storms. The International Space Station crew observed and recorded a large dust storm blowing eastward from the Aral Sea in late June 2001. This image illustrates the strong coupling between human activities (water diversions and irrigation), and rapidly changing land, sea and atmospheric processes—the winds blow across the Sea and pick up dust (former sea bottom sediments) as soon as the blowing air masses hit land.

Published Dec 30, 2001

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The Aral Sea, Before the Streams Ran Dry
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The Aral Sea, Before the Streams Ran Dry

In 1964, it was the world's fourth largest lake. Thanks to irrigation projects, now it is mostly gone.

Published Feb 24, 2012

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