



Photographer: Menashe Davidson

Summary Author: Menashe Davidson; Jim Foster



The photo above shows a sunlit swimming pool at the Beresheet Resort in Mitzpe Ramon, Israel bordering the Ramon Crater (upper right). Mitzpe Ramon is located in the Negev Desert region of Israel, on the northern rim of Ramon Crater. This crater wasn't formed by a meteor impact but is rather a makhtesh -- a steep-walled geologic landform. The swimming pool is positioned on the threshold of the crater's cliff, some 1,600 ft (488 m) above the bed of the crater. The inauspicious tower at left is part of the resort hotel -- Hotel Beresheet. All of the resort buildings are constructed from local stone and designed to look as unobtrusive as possible to better blend in with the desert landscape.



Note that most of the pool water is accented by conspicuous caustic networks. Whenever the water depth is relatively shallow, approximately five times the crest-crest wave distance, caustic networks can be seen. The water's surface essentially acts as a lens, alternatively focusing and defocusing sunlight -- bright regions are in rough focus and dark regions are out of focus. Photo taken during the morning of November 9, 2011.

Photo Details: Camera: NIKON D80; Focal Length: 20mm (35mm equivalent: 30mm); Aperture: f/16.0; Exposure Time: 0.0050 s (1/200); ISO equiv: 100.

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