Maharloo Lake in southwest Iran

Today’s Image of the Day from the European Space Agency features a satellite view of Maharloo Lake, a seasonal salt lake in southwest Iran. 

According to ESA, yearly evaporation in this desert region southeast of Shiraz is much greater than the yearly rainfall, meaning that Maharloo Lake is often very dry.

Such a high evaporation rate has gradually left the lake bed covered by salt. The increased salinity promotes a variety of organisms that display colors ranging from pink to orange to red, with the strength of the color differing in various periods of the year, explains ESA.

The photograph was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.

Image Credit: ESA 

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer