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A Delta Oasis in Southeastern Kazakhstan
2020-03-07
- Classification
- Photograph
- Museum
- Wikimedia Commons
- Credit line
- https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146552/a-delta-oasis-in-southeastern-kazakhstan
- Rights
- Public domain, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Kids profiles and older: it shows nature, places, still life or a children's book. How works are placed
About this work
Seen from space, the Ili River Delta contrasts sharply with the beige deserts of southeastern Kazakhstan.
When the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired this natural-color image on March 7, 2020, the delta was just starting to shake off the chill of winter. While many of the delta’s lakes and ponds were still frozen, the ice on Lake Balkhash was breaking up, revealing swirls of sediment and the shallow, sandy bed of the western part of the lake. Over the deeper eastern part of the lake, ice persisted until the last week of March.
Most of the water in Lake Balkhash comes from the Ili River, which pours in through the southeastern shore. The expansive delta and estuary—still dark brown in this image thanks to Central Asia’s harsh winters—is nevertheless an oasis for life year round. Hundreds of plant and animal species make a home here, including dozens that are threatened or endangered.
Wild boars, gazelles, marbled polecats, and several other mammals roam the reed beds, meadows, and occasional forests. Dozens of fish species live or spawn in the lake and in the delta’s mosaic of streams and ponds, including ship sturgeon and wels catfish. Several species of…
