Strands of green and brown mix in Langebaan Lagoon on the South African coast in this astronaut photograph. The shallow tidal estuary has a sandy floor and, since no river flows into it, the deeper green sections seen here are channels carved solely by the back-and-forth flow of the tides. To the north of the lagoon, Saldanha Bay is a busy hub for fishing and industry. The long reddish line extending into the water is a railroad pier responsible for loading 96 percent of South Africa’s iron ore gets loaded onto ships. (Image credit: NASA; via NASA Earth Observatory)
Langebaan Lagoon
