San Francisco Bay salt ponds

Salt evaporation pond in Ile de Ré, France.

Salt evaporations ponds, also known as saltern ponds, are shallow man-made ponds designed to produce salt from seawater. The seawater is fed into large ponds and water is drawn out through natural evaporation which allows the salt to be harvested. The ponds also provide a fertile resting and feeding ground for more than 70 species of waterbirds, including several endangered species. The ponds are usually separated by levees. Image File history File links San_Francisco_Bay_Salt_ponds_2002. ... Image File history File links San_Francisco_Bay_Salt_ponds_2002. ... Image File history File links Personal photograph 2005, released under GDFL. File links The following pages link to this file: Île de Ré Sea salt ... Image File history File links Personal photograph 2005, released under GDFL. File links The following pages link to this file: Île de Ré Sea salt ... The quays at Saint Martin en Ré. Île de Ré (formerly also Île de Rhé; in English Isle of Rhé) is an island off the west coast of France near La Rochelle, on the northern side of the Pertuis dAntioche strait. ... Ponds Cream is a brand of beauty and healthcare products that is produced by Unilever of England. ... A magnified crystal of salt In chemistry, salt is a term used for ionic compounds composed of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, so that the product is neutral and without a net charge. ... Sea water is water from a sea or ocean. ... Evaporation is the process whereby atoms or molecules in a liquid state (or solid state if the substance sublimes) gain sufficient energy to enter the gaseous state. ... Falcated Duck at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands centre, Gloucestershire, England Wildfowl or waterfowl, also waterbirds, is the collective term for the approximately 147 species of swans, geese and ducks, classified in the order Anseriformes, family Anatidae. ... An endangered species is a species whose population is so small that it is in danger of becoming extinct. ... A levee, levée (from the feminine past participle of the French verb lever, to raise), floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial embankment or dike, usually earthen, which parallels the course of a river. ...

Due to variable algal concentrations, vivid colors, from pale green to bright red, are created in the evaporation ponds. The color indicates the salinity of the ponds. Micro-organisms change their hues as the salinity of the pond increases. In low to mid-salinity ponds, green algae is predominant. In middle to high salinity ponds, an algae called Dunaliella shifts the color to red. Millions of tiny brine shrimp create an orange cast in mid-salinity ponds. Other bacteria such as Stichococcus also contribute tints. These colors are especially interesting to airplane passengers or astronauts passing above due to their somewhat artistic formations of shape and color. The algae (singular is alga) comprise several different groups of living things that produce energy through photosynthesis. ... A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is so small that it is microscopic (invisible to the naked eye). ... Superfamilies and families Alpheoidea Alpheidae - snapping shrimps Barbouriidae Hippolytidae Ogyrididae Atyoidea Atyidae Bresilioidea Agostocarididae Alvinocarididae Bresiliidae Disciadidae Mirocarididae Campylonotoidea Bathypalaemonellidae Campylonotoidae Crangonoidea Crangonidae Glyphocrangonidea Galatheacaridoidea Galatheacarididae Nematocarcinoidea Eugonatonotidae Nematocarcinidae Rhynchocinetidae Xiphocarididae Oplophoroidea Oplophoridae Palaemonoidea Anchistioididae Desmocarididae Euryrhynchidae Gnathophyllidae Hymenoceridae Kakaducarididae Palaemonidae Typhlocarididae Pandaloidea Pandalidae Thalassocarididae Pasiphaeoidea Pasiphaeidae Procaridoidea Procarididae Processoidea... Since the NTSC color television standard is susceptible to color errors, there is a tint control on NTSC television sets, which allows the image hue to be corrected. ... U.S. Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless II using a manned maneuvering unit. ...

Notable salt ponds include the San Francisco Bay salt ponds in the United States, and the Dead Sea salt ponds in Jordan. San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and the Golden Gate The San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining of approximately forty percent of California, flowing in Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean. ... The Jordan River flowing into the Dead Sea The Dead Sea (Arabic البحر الميت, Hebrew ים המלח) is the lowest exposed point on the Earths surface. ...

External links and sources

• NASA page on salt ponds
• Information on the San Francisco Bay salt ponds
• Interactive satellite view