Burren Plateau, County Clare, Ireland - related image preview

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Burren Plateau, County Clare, Ireland - related image preview

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Burren Plateau, County Clare, Ireland

Adjoining Galway Bay to the north, the Burren Plateau (Burren is Gaelic for “stony place”) is an example of karst terrain. Karst terrain is generally formed when sedimentary rocks are dissolved by groundwater. This astronaut photograph illustrates the northwestern-most portion of the Burren Plateau, which is characterized by the distinctive bare exposures of almost horizontal, layered Paleozoic-age limestone rocks that form Gleninagh Mountain.


Astronaut photograph ISS016-E-30080 was acquired on February 17, 2008, with a Kodak 760C digital camera fitted with an 800 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment. The image was taken by the Expedition 16 crew, and is provided by the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center. The image in this article has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. Lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by William L. Stefanov, NASA-JSC.

Published May 5, 2008
Data acquired February 17, 2008

Source:
ISS > Digital Camera
Collection:
Astronaut Photography