Sivash Lagoons - Crimea
author: Nasa/GSFC/Novapix
reference: t-ascri-00001
Image Size 300 DPI: 28 * 20 cm
This network of lagoons is known as Sivash (also Syvash or SivaÅ¡). During the summer months, the warmed marsh waters give off unpleasant odors, lending the region the nicknames of “Rotten Sea†or “Putrid Sea.â€The Thematic Mapper on NASA’s Landsat 5 satellite captured this natural-color image on June 6, 2010. The shallow waters and varied chemical composition of the Sivash lagoons contribute to their unearthly colors of peach, mustard, lime green, blue, blue-green, beige, and brown. Thick layers of silt coat the bottoms of the shallow marshes, which are rich enough in mineral salts to supply a local chemical plant. Surrounding the marshy areas are agricultural fields, most of them rectangular, but some are shaped by center-pivot irrigation systems. Urbanized areas appear along the shores of the Black Sea, and highways curve and zigzag across the peninsula.