That animation shows how the land forms are changing due to a superior mirage. The time interval between the first and the last pictures is 33 minutes.
Here's what Andy Young - a mirage specialist says about the animation:
"Well, this starts out as a classical superior mirage, with just one
inverted image visible. (It's probably really a 3-image mirage, with
the top erect image so compressed as to be invisible.) Then as the
inversion becomes stronger, the 3rd image becomes prominently visible --
and finally you get a 5-image mirage! A nice example indeed.
In an intermediate stage, you get quite a nice Fata Morgana effect,
with the stretched zones alternating with compressed ones.
I am tempted to say that the magnification in the vertically stretched
zone, between the horizon and the first inverted image, is due to the
curvature of the Earth (and the inversion): the effective "reflecting"
layer is concave downward, so it acts as a magnifying mirror. I think
this would be Wegener's interpretation; but I should really do some
simulations of these mirage to be sure this is even an approximately
correct explanation. In this case, the two upper images would be
interpreted as a reflection of the 3-image mirage in the closer part of
the inversion -- really a sort of "mirage of a mirage".
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== {{int:filedesc}} == {{Information |Description={{en|1=Fata Morgana of Santa Cruz shoreline as seen from Moss Landing. That animation shows how the land forms are changing due to a s
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