298 THE BASIN OF EASTERN PERSIA AND SISTAN.
two, a clam and the pink mussel already mentioned, are said by the natives to still live in the lake. The others may also exist, but are too small to be noticed, except by the scientist. At present, however, the amount of life in the lake is so small that I did not once see any living creatures or even any shells of those that had recently died. This decrease in life is the natural result of the drying up of the lake. When the water stood at the higher levels and was always abundant, conditions were favorable for plentiful lacustrine life ; when the water decreased and actually dried up, as in 1872, most of the animals perished.
Fig. 172.—Old Lake Beach at Sabazkim, looking West. The lake stood on the right of the beach and a
lagoon on the left.
Near the middle of the bay of Sabazkim the beach and the bluff part company. The cliff bends southward and at once loses its steep, freshly-cut appearance and becomes like the corresponding cliff at Seh-Kuheh. The beach assumes the form of a gravel ridge from 10 to 15 feet high and as level as a railway embankment (see fig. 172). It continues unbroken for a distance of 4 or 5 miles and possibly
Fig. 173.—Ideal cross-section of the old Lacustrine Beach at Sabazkim.
farther. In cross-section (fig. 173) it shows several ridges thrown up when the waves were at different heights. Everywhere, even in the coarse gravel, shells abound. Between the beach and the cliffs to the south there is a broad lagoon. This is bordered by worn, battered cliffs, at the base of which lies a small beach which was probably formed before the waves had built the larger beach which now cuts off the lagoon.
IIIF Color HighRes
