A photo exhibition about the Aral Sea and the Ustyurt Plateau was opened in Moscow, at the State Darwin Museum.
The exhibition, according to the idea of the authors, should draw attention to the ecological catastrophe and show the amazing beauty of the Aral Sea.
The exposition devoted to the Aral Sea was included in the TOP-10 of the Moscow exhibitions of April. About 60 landscapes of the Aral Sea and the desert of the Ustyurt plateau on the bottom of the ancient ocean tell of a brief spring awakening of the earth. The idea to create a photo exhibition appeared by the oceanologist Michael Flint’s mind after working expeditions.
Dana Nurzhan, Twitter @DanaNurzhan:
– Visitors to the photo exhibition can get quite detailed information about the situation with the Aral Sea today. So, for example, the satellite images show how the Aral Sea inevitably dries up. Over the past 40 years, the Aral area has shrunk by 10 times. But not everything is so unambiguous, scientists assure. Archaeologists have made amazing discoveries in the past 10 years. Traces of human civilization were found on the bottom of the Aral Sea.
Mikhail Flint, Deputy Director of the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences:
– When the bottom of the Aral Sea was exposed, which, as we initially thought, had never seen sunlight and was always covered with water, and people began to do their first works there, they found a mausoleum. This suggests that the people who built the mausoleum lived there not just for a year or two, but a long period. There were found parking areas with a lot of pottery and utensils. Moreover, this part of the Ustyurt plateau and Aral Sea on the border with Kazakhstan was probably a very important part of the Great Silk Road. You envision the number of people who moved there with caravans. Hence, the nature there was arranged differently, despite the fact that the Aral Sea was in such a low standing.
The artefacts found during the joint expedition are in the possession of German archaeologists, the scientist specifies. They determined: the mausoleum was built in the 11th century, parking areas and cemeteries – as early as 15th century. At the bottom of the sea there are more puzzles than answers.
Mikhail Flint, Deputy Director of the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences:
– There are very powerful natural cycles, of which, unfortunately, we have no idea. And when I look at what happened to the Aral Sea, it seems to me that this is a very instructive lesson for humanity.
The author of the pictures is sure that the photo exhibition is a great way to draw people’s attention to environmental problems.
– The pictures are very good, in addition, I think that the problem of the Aral Sea drying out is now, really, very urgent. These natural and human factors are combined together. I think our task is to fight against this in order to restore this wonderful natural ecosystem.
– Peace, nature. Very beautiful, mountains, heights, hollows.
After Moscow, the project will go on a tour of the country to tell the inhabitants of Russia about the gloomy catastrophe and the amazing secrets of the Aral Sea.
Authors: Dana Nurzhan, Alexander Lyubitelev, Russia
Source: http://24.kz/en/news/culture/item/174471-fotovystavka-ob-aralskom-more-otkrylas-v-moskve