Mining.com: Potash ponds in the Utah desert

To the non-expert eye they may seem a set of mirages, but these turquoise-purple-pink visions are what ground-level potash ponds look like near Arches National Park outside Moab, Utah.

These man-made pools are for collecting potash that is pumped up from underground. The sun then evaporates the fluids, leaving the fertilizer ingredient up for grabs.

The spectacular blue is not, however, Nature’s gift. Workers add dye to the water so that it can absorb heat and evaporate more quickly, a process that normally would take about 300 days.