Baker's Flats
Baker's Flats is an alkali flat located on Rostral F4. Best known for the characteristic color of its cracked clay crust, Baker's Flats also serves as a cautionary tale for Rostran settlers about the necessity of preparing for changes in the environment.
Geography
Baker's Flats were once a series of shallow lakes known as Far Osana during the early days of Rostran intra-tesseract exploration. Rain created as a result of evaporation from the lake on D2 - as well as the oceans on the other side of the commissure at C6 - would accumulate in the cooler edge hills of the cube to flow down in tributaries to Far Osana. While most of the small pools at Far Osana were too saline to safely drink after their journeys into the lowlands - having picked up salts from the soil as they flowed down from the watershed - a few were known to be safe for consumption. This drew the attention of some Rostran settlers looking to progress towards the Red Velvet Desert in Rostral A; trade posts and rest areas were established for caravans of settlers.
This state of affairs changed in the 9500's AR when erosion changed the hydrological profile of the surrounding terrain. While water still flowed down into the basins, it was reduced to the point that more of the water would evaporate or be absorbed by the soil than would accumulate with the winter rainy season. As a result, the already low water level began declining. The transience of the population at the trading posts meant that no one properly considered the possibility that the lakes could fully dry up; as far as the settlers were concerned, the drought was a temporary thing that would pass, as it always had in the past, before more serious measures would be required. Furthermore, as trade with settlements in the Red Velved Desert expanded, so did the extraction of water from the already moribund lake system.
Ultimately, as a result of constant mismanagement, Far Osana dried up completely by 9600 AR, forcing caravans to reduce their payloads in favor of carrying more water to sustain themselves without the benefits of scavenging. While it was unlikely that Far Osana could be saved, the water shortages and curtailment of trade that followed as a necessity from this event were likely preventable with the proper application of regulation, storage, infrastructure improvements, aqueducts, or other changes within the technological grasp of the Rostrans at the time. As a result, Far Osana - or Baker's Flats as the region is now known - is often idiomatic in Iuxat for a completely avoidable boondoggle or the tragedy of the commons.
Natural Resources
In modern times, Baker's Flats are best known for their reddish-orange clay, a product of red silt inclusions blown in from the adjacent Red Velved Desert as a result of circumvection. This clay is saline, cracks in the summer sun, and is generally bereft of plant life. The clay is suitable for pottery and brickmaking, however, meaning that there is a market for it now that water can be shipped into the area via mechanized means, especially the 4GW "Dewstar" Liquid Freighter Aerostat. The region is hot but flat, meaning that working the area with ground vehicles is economical as well.
A small, transient community of miners resides in the area at the behest of manufacturers in the Red Velvet Association and Rostran Archipelago Confederacy, digging up clay and sand for construction, glassmaking, and other industrial processes back home. However, the presence of extraction facilities and the supply chain to support them in the desert draws the unwelcome attention of Avarix Corps raiders, requiring the presence of protective elements from the Rostran Archipelago Confederacy Marine Forces. The amount of salvage created by this constant struggle between the Marines peacekeepers and Avarix pirates creates a secondary industry in the extraction of endurastahl and eudoxium for enterprising Hazardous-Condition Salvage Reclamation crews to explore.
Alternative Name(s)
Great Dry Lakes; Far Osana
Type
Salt flat
Location under
Owning Organization
Contested By
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