SPACEPHOTOS

The Mahanadi and Brahmani Rivers (two somewhat paralleling light-colored features) have combined to create a large delta plain along the northeast coast of India. Based on the width of the floodplain, the surface area of the exposed sandbars, (highly reflective surfaces) and the larger number of distributary channels (linear, lighter-colored features, the Mahanadi River has produced the greater quantity of sediment deposition along the coast. Lake Chilka (multicolored feature lower left), India’s largest brackish water lagoon, has an ever-changing annual cycle. For most of the year, the salty water from the Bay of Bengal (lower edge) provides recharge water for Lake Chilka; however, during the wet summer monsoon fresh water from the Mahanadi River system flows south and displaces the brackish water of the lake. For a short time each year, Lake Chilka is a fresh water lake. The Indian government is expending considerable effort to preserve the fragile ecological system that is in place around the lake. Lake Chilka has been identified as a Wildlife Sanctuary Site (Ramsar Site). The darker landscape inland shows the location and distribution of low mountains and hilly terrain.