Where on Earth? - February 2009

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Milt Friend

Clues for February 2009:

1. Although you wouldn’t know by its appearance here or its name, this locale forms part of a lake that takes its name from a local salt mine, an industry that dates as far back as 1815 in the region. (That’s surprising, given the lake’s location.)

2. The lake formed in 1905 when heavy rainfall and snowmelt caused the local river to fill a basin, submerging a town, railroad and parts of an Indian reservation.

3. The lake has been labeled the “crown jewel of avian biodiversity,” although its increasing salinity (thanks to evaporation and agricultural runoff) threatens the fish and microorganisms that support the birds.

Name this place and its location.

Scroll down for the answer

Answer: The Salton Sea in Southern California takes its name from a local salt mine, an industry that dates as far back as 1815 in the region. The lake formed in 1905 when heavy rainfall and snowmelt caused the local river to fill a basin, submerging a town, a railroad and parts of an Indian reservation. The lake has since been labeled the “crown jewel of avian biodiversity,” although its increasing salinity (thanks to evaporation and agricultural runoff) threatens the fish and microorganisms that support the birds. Photo is by Milt Friend.

February winners
Jean Bahr (Madison, Wis.)
William Bilodeau (Thousand Oaks, Calif.)
Pamela Bruder (La Jolla, Calif.)
Ross Brunetti (Santa Maria, Calif.)
Les LaFountain (Monrovia, Calif.)
Sandra Lilligren (Clarkston, Wash.)
Graham Silsby (Havre de Grace, Md.)
Larry Smith (Butte, Mont.)
Mark Sweeney (Vermillion, S.D.)
Don Tobin (Houston, Texas)

To submit your photographs to our Where on Earth? contest, send them via e-mail to
earth@earthmagazine.org.