Great Salt Lake Halophyte Colours — Aerial Bacterial Palette
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Utah’s Great Salt Lake southern arm photographed from 400 metres — the extreme salinity supporting halophilic bacteria and algae that colour the evaporation ponds in vivid gradients of pink, magenta, orange, and rust.
Description
The Great Salt Lake’s southern arm, divided from the northern arm by a rail causeway that prevents water mixing, has a salinity exceeding 25 percent — conditions that support only the most salt-tolerant halophilic bacteria and algae. These organisms colour the water in vivid biological pigments: Dunaliella salina algae produces beta-carotene in intense pink, halobacteria produce bacteriorhodopsin in purple-red, and the combination of species at different salinity zones creates a colour gradient across the evaporation ponds that is only fully legible from altitude. This photograph was made at 400 metres over the southern arm evaporation ponds, the colour sequence from the freshwater inflow (pale greygreen) through increasing salinity to the most concentrated brine ponds (deep magenta-red) clearly visible. The geometric borders between salt company evaporation cells add a human geometry to the biological colour palette.
