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Why saltern crystallizer ponds are red?
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The red colour of saltern ponds depends on the blooming of various salt tolerant and salt-requiring microrganisms. |
"Margherita di Savoia" |
San Francisco Bay |
The color of the dense communities of microrganism inhabiting saltern ponds is often very intense; the higher the salt concentration of the environment, the denser these communities can become. |
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Many different kinds of salt loving microrganisms can be observed in a drop of red water collected from saltern ponds. Typically, dense communities of halophilic Archaea (Halobacteriaceae) together with halophilic or halotolerant Eukarya, such as different species of alga Dunaliella, can impart a bright red colour to the hypersaline environments. |
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