Coastal Dune Lake Outfall

Here is where Lake Powell enters the Gulf of Mexico through an outflow. It's the largest coastal dune lake in the state of Florida (767 acres/310 hectares).

Walton County in the Florida Panhandle is home to 15 named coastal dune lakes along 26 miles of sugar white sands coastline. Coastal dune lakes are quite a rare ecosystem that besides Florida are only found in Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, and Oregon.

The Florida coastal dune lakes share an intermittent connection with the Gulf of Mexico. The lake water is fed by streams, groundwater seepage, rain, and storm surge. The connection with the Gulf, called an outfall, is a flood control and pours lake water into the Gulf as needed.

Salt water and organisms flow back into the lake, depending on tides and weather. Each lake's outfall and chemistry is different. Water conditions between lakes can vary greatly, from completely fresh to significantly saline (info taken from the Walton County website ( http://www.co.walton.fl.us/index.aspx?nid=97 ) ).

Shot Notes: 2 manually blended exposures primarily combined via luminosity masks targeting different light levels. The horizon was leveled on site with a bubble level, if you look closely at the most distant horizon you will see it is indeed plumb. ;-)

FLFloridaGulf of MexicoLake PowellGulfOceanBeachShoreCoastalDuneLakeOutfallInflowGeographyCoastal Dune LakeWaltonSunsetNatureLandscapeSandSandyBlueWaterReflectionSkySimpleNikonD300ImagesForTheLittlePrinceSaariy'sQualityPictures2010Michael Menefee

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