QUICK FACTS
The place is it? Oyyl dune subject, Kazakhstan [49.0485097, 54.776320616]
What’s within the photograph? A big subject of sand dunes within the form of a slug
Who took the photograph? An unnamed astronaut on board the Worldwide Area Station
When was it taken? June 15, 2022
This intriguing astronaut photograph exhibits off an oddly formed subject of dunes in Kazakhstan that strongly resembles an enormous slug meandering throughout the panorama. The mollusk mimic is roofed with clusters of vegetation, suggesting its sands are slowly being frozen in place.
The dune subject is positioned round 175 miles (280 kilometers) northeast of the Caspian Sea within the western reaches of the Kazakh Steppe — an unlimited area of open grassland masking north Kazakhstan and elements of Russia. It’s sandwiched between the village of Oyyl to the west (left within the picture) and a big floodplain to the east (proper within the picture).
It covers an space of round 75 sq. miles (190 sq. kilometers), round thrice the scale of Manhattan, and measures roughly 13 miles (21 km) throughout at its widest level, in accordance with NASA’s Earth Observatory.
Dune fields type in pure depressions, or sinks, throughout the surrounding panorama, usually in areas with excessive winds able to depositing sand in these holes. On this case, the slug-shaped sink sits roughly 300 toes (90 meters) under the elevation of the encompassing panorama.
Many of the sand inside this sink originates from the adjoining floodplain, in addition to one other floodplain positioned to the south (not proven within the picture). Floodplains generate a lot of sand once they dry out, as beforehand trapped coarse sediments get scattered throughout the land and blown away by the wind, in accordance with Nationwide Geographic.
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The parallel strains seen throughout the dunes are ridges of sand constructed up because the prevailing wind pushes the sand northward. Over time, the positions of those ridges subtly shift in the identical course.
The darkish patches littered throughout the dune subject are vegetation which have taken root within the ridges. If the focus of this vegetation will get excessive sufficient, it might probably repair a ridge into place and forestall it from shifting, just like among the dunes frozen in place alongside varied coastlines throughout the globe.
Many of the vegetation is concentrated alongside the southern and western edges of the dune subject, doubtless as a consequence of water coming from the Uil River, which snakes across the outskirts of Oyyl, in accordance with the Earth Observatory.
Scientists are presently unsure if the remainder of the dune subject will observe go well with and develop into overrun by plants sooner or later.
