Submerged Dunes A Toshka Project, Egypt story
Agriculture
Deserts
Water
These close-ups of one of the larger lakes show how the formation and reduction of the lakes affected sand dunes.
- Sand dunes became inundated as the lakes formed. In the 2001 image, many larger dunes were small islands in the lake.
- Bright sand dunes re-emerged as the lake level dropped. In the 2013 and 2017 images, a few dunes are still islands.
- The darker ground in the later images indicates former water levels—the darker tone means moistened ground.
Location
Dec. 8 and 15, 1989, Landsat 4 (path/row 175,176/44) — close up of Toshka Lakes, Egypt
Aug. 19 and 26, 2001, Landsat 7 (path/row 175,176/44) — close up of Toshka Lakes, Egypt
Aug. 19 and 28, 2013, Landsat 8 (path/row 175,176/44) — close up of Toshka Lakes, Egypt
Aug. 23 and 30, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 175,176/44) — close up of Toshka Lakes, Egypt
July 3 and 12, 2019, Landsat 8 (path/row 175,176/44) — close up of Toshka Lakes
Mar. 24 and 18, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 175,176/44) — close up of Toshka Lakes, Egypt
Toshka Project, Egypt Additional Imagery & Stories
Irrigated Fields
The Landsat images show the appearance of center-pivot irrigation fields near one of the diminishing lakes. As of 2012, however, only about 21,000 hec...
Pumping Station
As part of the Toshka Project, a pumping station sends water from Lake Nasser to irrigated fields in the Toshka basin. The Mubarak Pumping Station has...
The Lakes Form
The Aswan High Dam on the Nile River was completed in 1970 for flood protection and to store water during dry years. The dam formed Lake Nasser, the t...
The Lakes Shrink
The only two places for water in this arid region to go are into the air or into the ground. The underlying limestone prevents much ground infiltratio...