Early morning sun floods across White Rim Canyon and the Colorado River in this view northwest from Canyonlands Overlook. Deep blue evaporation ponds owned by Intrepid Potash are visible at upper left. These ponds play a key role in the mining of potassium chloride, which is used in fertilizers worldwide. To extract potash from the ground, hot water is pumped down wells to dissolve the potassium underground. The resulting brine is pumped to the surface and into rubber-lined evaporation ponds where it is artificially dyed a striking blue color to speed up the evaporation process, which takes about 300 days.
[2 captures blended in Helicon Focus for focus-stacking with a third for dynamic range]