Sakhalin, Eastern Russia

North of Hokkaido, Japan (bottom center), off the southeast coast of Russia is Sakhalin Island (center). Thought by early explorers to be a peninsula, connected to the mainland by its northwestern edge, the island has not been connected to the mainland since the end of the last ice age. (During the ice age, so much of the Earth's water was tied up in ice that sea levels were lower than they are today, and land that was once exposed is now underwater.) In this MODIS image from January 14, 2001, sea ice chokes the narrow strait that connects the Sea of Japan (south) to the Sea of Okhotsk (north).

---

Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Published January 26, 2002
Data acquired January 14, 2002

Source:

Terra > MODIS

Collection:

Visible Earth