SPOT imagery of this landlocked sea, taken on 2 March 1989, reveals that since 1989 the shoreline has advanced more than 20 km on the sea in some places, with the emergence of dunes (shown in yellow in the 1989 map), of salty soil and new vegetation, etc. This ecological disaster has been caused by massive drawing of water from the Amou-Daria river.

page updated on the 06 June 2000