Since 1987, the Aral Sea has split into two parts. The point where the Syr Darya
(Darya is Persian for sea) entered
the Aral Sea filled with silt and cut off the extreme northern part (at the top in this image)
of the sea from its main body. The "Big Aral" is the large area at the bottom right, and
the "Little Aral" is the much smaller area at the top left. Recently, the
"Little Aral" has split again.
This is image STS039-0080-0016. It was taken from the space shuttle in April 1991.
