Looking south over the Baja
California peninsula and the Sea Of Cortez. At lower left, the
Salton Sea, on the U.S.side of the border. At center, the delta of
the Colorado River emptying into the Sea Of Cortez. At center right,
the enormous, 100-mile hook of Punta Eugenia, with Scammon's Lagoon
shown clearly. Just visible on the distant Pacific Coast farther
south, Cabo San Lazaro and the 140-mile long Bahía Magadlena
mangrove lagoon complex. In the Sea Of Cortez, the Midriff
Archipelago is clearly shown, with the two largest islands, Isla
Tiburon on the left, and Isla Angel de la Guarda off the coast at
Bahía de los Angeles. The mile-deep Midriff channels average only
about 15 miles wide. With a tidal range in the northern Cortez
approaching 20 feet at times, these channels are the source of both
vertical and horizontal water turbulence in the very strong tidal
currents, bringing nutrients from very deep up to the surface. In
many ways, this is the engine that drives the spectacular density of
biota that the Midriff supports, even to the present day. Photo
courtesy NASA.
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