| ISS010 Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights |
| TOP PICKS |
| Click here to view the complete online collection of astronaut photography of Earth >> |
| ISS010-E-6681 |
![]() ISS010-E-6681 Click the photo number to access all resolutions available and the database record. |
| Shark Bay, Australia: This image shows large solar salt works
developed in Useless Loop and Useless Inlet, Shark Bay, Western
Australia (for a regional image of Shark Bay, see Phytoplankton in
Shark Bay ). The salt (sodium chloride) is produced when ponds are
repeatedly flooded with seawater, which is progressively concentrated
by evaporation. This particular salt farm opened in 1967 and expanded
operations in the 1990s. Today, this salt farm comprises over 50
ponds’the newest pond is the outermost pond in Useless Inlet, which
provides the first evaporation cycle to increase the salinity of the
water prior to entering the next pond. Complex chemical and
biological adjustments occur in the system each time the
configuration of ponds is changed. Solar salt production has increased along the world’s arid coastal regions. Global demand for salt is on the rise, primarily because salt is a basic feedstock to the chemical industry (the largest salt consumer). Commercial solar salt ponds are frequently controversial components of coastal ecosystems. The hypersaline conditions are toxic to preexisting ecosystems in and around the converted land, and valuable coastal wetlands may be impacted by flooding, changing water levels and salinities. However, salt ponds have also been successfully converted to wetlands, and the shallow ponds can support shellfish and bird populations. |
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This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Astromaterials Research & Exploration Science Directorate. Recommended Citation: Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center. "The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth." . |
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