The Uvs Nuur Basin sits on the northern edge of the Central Asian steppes, bounded on all sides by mountains. Though largely arid, the basin is dotted with water. A large salt lake, the Uvs Nuur Lake, sits at the center of the basin, and several smaller lakes are scattered across the 600 kilometers east to west and 120 kilometers north to south that make up the basin.
Published Oct 11, 2007
Water is an important but sometimes scarce commodity for farmers in the Murray-Darling basin of southeast Australia.
Published Feb 26, 2016
Acquired January 26, 2011, and August 6, 2011, these images compare conditions in China’s Tarim Basin in winter and summer.
Published Aug 10, 2011
Flood water from northern Queensland drained toward a large basin in Australia’s interior—painting the desert landscape green.
Published May 4, 2018
Water from the Kaidu River made it possible to turn part of the Taklamakan Desert into an oasis for agriculture, but it has also disturbed the water table.
Published Aug 18, 2012
Thick haze clogged the air over China’s Sichuan Basin in late March 2009, ending abruptly along the basin’s north- and southwestern margins.
Published Mar 23, 2009
High in the Andes Mountains in Argentina, this salt lake hosts microbes that give the lakes distinct colors.
Published May 13, 2013
Mexico’s Cuatro Ciénegas Basin is one of the best places on Earth to investigate what life might have looked like on Mars.
Published Feb 23, 2013
The largest desert in China experiences frequent dust storms as lakes dry, leaving loose, fine mineral soil that lifts easily on the wind.
Published Feb 6, 2014
The distinctive sedimentary rock formations in west-central Argentina make for a geological and paleontological wonderland.
Published Oct 19, 2018
The eastern basin of the South Aral Sea is shallow and more prone to size fluctuations than its neighbors.
Published May 21, 2018
Acquired on August 11, 1984 (top), and September 1, 2009 (bottom), these true-color images show dramatic expansion of Devils Lake in North Dakota. In the 1990s, the lake began flooding, spilling into neighboring Stump Lake.
Published Feb 14, 2010
