Event Title: The Salton Sea Categories: ALL, Places, Things, AncientHistory, FullTimeline Timelines: ALL, Full Timeline, Ancient History

Event Permalink: https://lifeofthesaltonsea.org/events/the-salton-sea

The Salton Sea is a large body of salt water in southern California, USA. It lies in an area known as the Salton Trough located between the modern day Imperial Valley and Coachella Valley.

The sea was unintentionally formed more than a century ago when flood waters from the Colorado River surged through a series of irrigation canals and natural channels into the Salton Sink.

LifeOfTheSaltonSea.org - The Salton Sea, centered in an image of the western United States, taken from the NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) weather satellite GOES-15 (Geostationary Operational Environment Satellite launched March 4, 2010, formerly GOES-P) on July 16, 2018 from approximately 22,000 miles ( 36,000 km) above the Earth's surface, approximately 750 miles west (earth surface measurement, appx. 13° longitude west) of the Salton Sea. Several notable features are visible, including the central valley of California, the Baja Peninsula, the Gulf of California / Sea of Cortez, plus the the outer bands of Hurricane Fabio can be seen at the bottom of the image too. Notice that the Salton Sea is the only human made object visible from space at this distance. An outline of the state of California has been added to the image for reference.

The Salton Sea (centered in image) in southern California near the west coast of the United States.

Notice that the Salton Sea is the only human made object visible from space at this distance. An outline of the state of California has been added to the image for reference.

High Resolution Image
Super High Resolution Image