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Shenyang, China
Published February 28, 2005
The city of Shenyang is China’s sixth largest city with a population ofover 4 million residents in the urban core. The city is the major industrial, commercial, and cultural center of northeastern China (the region historically known as Manchuria). Its geographic location on the flood plains of the Hun and Liao Rivers ensured an early agrarian economy that was later replaced by industrialization and natural resource extraction. The major portion of the local economy is devoted to industries such as metal smelting, coal mining, and petrochemical processing. Several southeast-trending plumes from industrial facilities are visible in the image.
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Mt. Damavand, Iran
Published February 21, 2005
Located approximately 50 kilometers northeast of Tehran, Mt. Damavand is an impressive stratovolcano that reaches 5,670 meters (18,598 feet) in elevation. Part of the Alborz Mountain Range that borders the Caspian Sea to the north, Damavand is a young volcano that has formed mostly during the Holocene Epoch (over approximately the last 10,000 years). The western flank of the volcano includes solidified lava flows with flow levees—“walls” formed as the side edges of flowing lava cooled rapidly, forming a chute that channeled the hotter, interior lava. Two such flows with well-defined levees are highlighted by snow on the mountainside.
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Solimões-Negro River Confluence at Manaus, Amazonia
Published February 12, 2005
The largest river on the planet, the Amazon, forms from the confluence of the Solimões (the upper Amazon River) and the Negro at the Brazilian city of Manaus in central Amazonas. At the river confluence, the muddy, tan-colored waters of the Solimões meet the “black” water of the Negro River. The unique mixing zone where the waters meet extends downstream through the rainforest for hundreds of kilometers, and is a famous attraction for tourists from all over the world. The tourism contributes to substantial growth in the city of Manaus. Twenty years ago the large park near the city center (center) lay on the eastern outskirts of Manaus.
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Issaouane Erg, Algeria
Published February 7, 2005
he Issaouane Erg (sand sea) is located in eastern Algeria between the Tinrhert Plateau to the north and the Fadnoun Plateau to the south. Considered to be part of the Sahara Desert, the Issaouane Erg covers an area of approximately 38,000 km2. These complex dunes form the active southwestern border of the sand sea.
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Iberá Swamp Topography, NE Argentina
Published January 31, 2005
The central lake in this astronaut photograph is one of hundreds in the Iberá swamplands that were formed by South America’s second largest river, the Paraná. Although this great river now lies 120 kilometers to the north of this area today, its channel has swung over a great “inland delta” in the recent geological past.
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Tsunami Damage, Northwestern Sumatra
Published January 24, 2005
Astronaut photographs illustrate the damage along the southwestern coast of Aceh Province, Indonesia.
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Salalah, Sultanate of Oman
Published January 17, 2005
The city of Salalah is the capital of the Dhofar region of Oman and is known as the “perfume capital of Arabia.” The city is a popular destination for tourism due to the natural attractions of the al Qar mountains (Jabal al Qar, in Arabic) and abundant stands of frankincense trees lining mountain stream courses. These can be seen in this astronaut photograph as green regions in the Jabal al Qar north of the city (located in the center of the image). The beaches and coastline are also major attractions for scuba diving and bird watching.
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Howland Island, Pacific Ocean
Published January 4, 2005
Howland Island is a United States possession located in the north Pacific between Australia and the Hawaiian Islands. Prior to 1890, organic nitrate (guano) was mined from the island by both the United States and the British. This tiny island (1.6 km²) is currently part of the U.S. National Wildlife Refuge system, and provides nesting areas and forage for a variety of birds and marine wildlife. The island is composed of coral fragments and is surrounded by an active fringing reef. White breakers encircling the island indicate the position of the reef. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station photograph numerous reefs around the world as part of a global mapping and monitoring program.
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Well-head Flare, Calanscio Sand Sea, Libya
Published December 27, 2004
A plume of black smoke blowing westward is silhouetted against linear dunes in the great sand sea of northeast Libya. Smoke from flares at remote well heads is commonly seen by astronauts flying over the Sahara Desert. The plume dispersal pattern visible at the left edge of the image may be due to upper-level winds or gravitational settling of heavier particulates.
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New York’s Finger Lakes
Published December 20, 2004
A late fall snowstorm frosted the hills of the Finger Lakes region of central New York in early December, 2004. Shapes of the snow-covered hills are accented by the low Sun angles, and contrast with the darker, finger-shaped lakes filling the region’s valleys. The steep, roughly parallel valleys and hills of the Finger Lakes region were shaped by advancing and retreating ice sheets that were as much as 2 miles deep during the last ice age (2 million years to about 10,000 years ago). River valleys were scoured into deep troughs; many are now filled with lakes. The two largest lakes, Seneca and Cayuga, are so deep that the base of their lakebeds are below sea level.
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Lake Sambhar, India
Published December 13, 2004
Lake Sambhar, India’s largest salt lake, sits west of the Indian city of Jaipur (Rajasthan, NW India). On the eastern end, the lake is divided by a 5-kilometer long dam made of stone. East of the dam are salt evaporation ponds where salt has been farmed for a thousand years. This image, taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station, shows Lake Sambhar’s eastern saltworks in detail. Today, they are operated by a joint venture between Hindustan Salts and the Government of Rajasthan. East of the dam is a railroad, built by the British before India’s independence, that provides access from Sambhar Lake City to the salt works.
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Shark Bay, Australia
Published November 29, 2004
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