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Iceland

Sitting in the Atlantic Ocean just below the Arctic Circle, Iceland is capped with glaciers. In fact, glaciers cover more land area on this island than in all of continental Europe. The effect of so much ice on the island is clear in its irregular shape. Glaciers have carved out deep fjords, where dark fingers of water protrude into the island. On the southeast side of the island, the large field of smooth white ice is Vatnajokull, the largest ice cap on the island. Though the seasonal snow was beginning to disappear on May 3, 2005, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image, the ice caps remain year round.


Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Published May 17, 2005
Data acquired May 3, 2005

Source:
Aqua > MODIS