SALT LAKES OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The dramatic nature of Australian landscape is perhaps nowhere more apparent than when flying over it on an airplane. Here are some photos I took when Flying to Perth, in the southern part of Western Australia. Salt lakes of assorted sizes occur throughout southwestern Australia.

Geologic studies indicate that these salt lakes were once part of a very different ecosystem that is presently a line of salt lakes stretching roughly 170 kilometers north to south. Examination of rock layers suggests that these lakes were parts of massive drainage channels. These channels likely formed before the Jurassic Period (during the Age of the Dinosaurs). At that time, Australia and Antarctica were part of the same continent. The drainage channel that now holds salt lakes in Australia was likely fed by headwaters in Antarctica, which is now frozen and 3,800 kilometers away.

This post is part of the Scenic Sunday meme.