MILLIONS CALL EDWARDS AIR BASE HOME.Byline: Daily News EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - As winter rains fill Edwards Air Force Base's normally dry lake beds, millions of tiny shrimp emerge from eggs that lay dormant Latent; inactive; silent. That which is dormant is not used, asserted, or enforced. A dormant partner is a member of a partnership who has a financial interest yet is silent, in that he or she takes no control over the business. in the clay. The freshwater fresh·wa·ter adj. 1. Of, relating to, living in, or consisting of water that is not salty: freshwater fish; freshwater lakes. 2. Situated away from the sea; inland. 3. shrimp found at Edwards have adapted to the desert environment by laying their eggs just below the soil surface. When the lakes and clay pans clay pan: see hardpan. dry up in summer, the eggs are left behind to wait for the next rainy rain·y adj. rain·i·er, rain·i·est Characterized by, full of, or bringing rain. rain  i·ness n.Adj. season. The eggs are very durable and can withstand drought and extreme heat. The eggs can stay dormant for 25 years or more. When winter rains fill the lake beds, the shrimp hatch and begin their life cycle, which from egg to adult takes only a few weeks. The freshwater shrimp provide meals for migrating birds that pass over Edwards. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Several types of shrimp live in the lake beds of Edwards Air Force Base, lying dormant in eggs during dry months. U.S. Air Force |
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