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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Cool Geo-Pic: Toshka Lakes, Egypt


Another cool geo-pic from NASA's Earth Observatory.
I like the idea of shift and drowning dunes.

"Cut & Paste" Highlights:
" ... In the late 1990s, Egypt’s new manmade
Toshka Lakes, fed from Lake Nasser via a canal, grew and spilled into new basins to become four major and two smaller lakes. These lakes extended 120 kilometers across the desert west of the Nile River in southern Egypt. Starting in 2002, astronauts have seen the lakes slowly decline, with the telltale ring of darker, moistened ground showing the previous higher water levels (see prior comparison of astronaut imagery of the lakes). The rise and fall of Toshka Lakes and the economic development surrounding the region are dependent on climate fluctuations and water agreements with upstream countries that, in turn, determine the long-term water flow in the lower Nile.

In the late 1990s, Egypt’s new manmade Toshka Lakes, fed from Lake Nasser via a canal, grew and spilled into new basins to become four major and two smaller lakes. These lakes extended 120 kilometers across the desert west of the Nile River in southern Egypt. Starting in 2002, astronauts have seen the lakes slowly decline, with the telltale ring of darker, moistened ground showing the previous higher water levels (see prior comparison of astronaut imagery of the lakes). The rise and fall of Toshka Lakes and the economic development surrounding the region are dependent on climate fluctuations and water agreements with upstream countries that, in turn, determine the long-term water flow in the lower Nile.... "

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