Aral Sea in Uzbekastan seen from STS-59

STS059-L22-140 (9-20 April 1994) --- View northeastward across Uzbekastan to the partly-ice-covered Aral Sea and Kazakhstan. The irrigated fan-delta of the Amu Darya extends from the right side of the photograph to end in extensive salt flats at the south end of the sea. The Aral was the fourth-largest inland sea or lake in the world, until diversion and over-use of the river water for irrigation led, in this arid climate, to the sea's decline. Linhof camera.