Geology Picture of the Week, February 23-March 1, 2003 (WhereIsIt? stumper)

http://praxis.pha.jhu.edu/ ^

[cogitator]

Obviously, if you view the page source you can probably figure out where this is pretty quickly. The challenge is to figure out where it is based on the keywords, and why this region is so important to scientists.

[cogitator]

Have fun!

[cogitator]

** ping **

[Cuttnhorse]

¿No idea Cogi?

[Right Wing Puppy]

Is it Manhattan?

[knews_hound]

San Francisco Bay?

Sure looks like it, kinda.

Cheers,

knews hound

[al baby]

Area 51 ?

[1ofmanyfree]

An oblique view of the Shark Bay complex from the east. Hamelin Pool at the center of the photo and Shark Bay proper are separated from Freycinet Estuary and Denham Sound by the Peron Peninsula. These, in turn, are separated from the Indian Ocean by Edel Land Peninsula and Dirk Hartog Island. This arid western coast of western Australia is very sparsely populated, but a few roads can be seen. A complex set of lime-sediment shoals and tidal passes forms the Disappointment Reach shallows. Some red, land-derived mud does make its way into the inter tidal zone along the coast north of the reach. The clouds of light-colored water in Shark Bay and Denham Sound may either be lime sediment, perhaps precipitated from sea water or a plankton bloom. (Scanned from a slide.) (Astro-2)
NASA Photo ID: STS067-730A-048

[cogitator]

Good answer; so why is it important to scientists? (one
respondent already knows)

[CyberAnt]

Shark Bay ..??

Don't know where that is

[cogitator]

Western Coast of Australia. Do a Web search on "Hamelin Pool".

[CyberAnt]

Soooo ... why is it important to scientists ...??

[cogitator]

Soooo ... why is it important to scientists ...??

Best examples of living stromatolites found on Earth are in Hamelin Pool.

[CyberAnt]

And ... what are "stromatolites" ...??

[cogitator]

Shark Bay Stromatolites

(which is one of the reasons that this was a Geology Picture of the Week)