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Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer from 2006 and 2004
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Earthquake Raises Reefs in t
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Earthquake Raises Reefs in the Solomon Islands |
| Description |
When people talk about change happening on a geologic time scale, most of the time, they mean that the change happens over the course of millions of years: the Colorado River gradually cuts through the soft rock of the Colorado Plateau until it has made a 4,000-foot-deep chasm, the Grand Canyon, continents drift centimeters at a time, slowly changing the shape and position of landmasses on the Earth. Most of the time, change is slow, but sometimes, geologic change happens all at once. This was the case on Ranongga Island in the Solomon Islands. In the early morning hours of April 2, 2007, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake shook the Solomon Islands, its epicenter southwest of Ranongga Island. The huge quake pushed much of the island up, raising the coral reefs that ringed the island above the water. In the course of a few minutes, Ranongga Island acquired several meters of new beach. The newly exposed reef forms a gray rim along the eastern shore of the island in the left image, acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on April 12, 2007. In the right image, taken on March 31, 2006, the shallowly submerged reefs color the water a lighter shade of blue. The uplift may be more dramatic than the images show. When ASTER took the 2007 image, the tide was 29.4 centimeters higher than it was when the 2006 image was taken, and yet the uplift is still visible. The lush vegetation that covers the tropical island is bright red in this image, which is made from both visible and infrared light. Out of its aquatic environment, the reef died, becoming the foundation of new land. Such evolution is common in earthquake zones in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. During the December 26, 2004, earthquake that generated the massive Indian Ocean tsunami, Simeulue Island was lifted as much as 150 centimeters (4.9 feet), exposing the reef that surrounded it. A similar set of exposed fossilized reefs on the shores of Papua New Guinea, near the Solomon Islands, provided proof that wobbles in the Earth's orbit trigger ice ages. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]Thanks to Aron Meltzner, California Institute of Technology, for help with image interpretation. |
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Earthquake Raises Reefs in t
…
| Title |
Earthquake Raises Reefs in the Solomon Islands |
| Description |
When people talk about change happening on a geologic time scale, most of the time, they mean that the change happens over the course of millions of years: the Colorado River gradually cuts through the soft rock of the Colorado Plateau until it has made a 4,000-foot-deep chasm, the Grand Canyon, continents drift centimeters at a time, slowly changing the shape and position of landmasses on the Earth. Most of the time, change is slow, but sometimes, geologic change happens all at once. This was the case on Ranongga Island in the Solomon Islands. In the early morning hours of April 2, 2007, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake shook the Solomon Islands, its epicenter southwest of Ranongga Island. The huge quake pushed much of the island up, raising the coral reefs that ringed the island above the water. In the course of a few minutes, Ranongga Island acquired several meters of new beach. The newly exposed reef forms a gray rim along the eastern shore of the island in the left image, acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on April 12, 2007. In the right image, taken on March 31, 2006, the shallowly submerged reefs color the water a lighter shade of blue. The uplift may be more dramatic than the images show. When ASTER took the 2007 image, the tide was 29.4 centimeters higher than it was when the 2006 image was taken, and yet the uplift is still visible. The lush vegetation that covers the tropical island is bright red in this image, which is made from both visible and infrared light. Out of its aquatic environment, the reef died, becoming the foundation of new land. Such evolution is common in earthquake zones in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. During the December 26, 2004, earthquake that generated the massive Indian Ocean tsunami, Simeulue Island was lifted as much as 150 centimeters (4.9 feet), exposing the reef that surrounded it. A similar set of exposed fossilized reefs on the shores of Papua New Guinea, near the Solomon Islands, provided proof that wobbles in the Earth's orbit trigger ice ages. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]Thanks to Aron Meltzner, California Institute of Technology, for help with image interpretation. |
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Earthquake Raises Reefs in t
…
| Title |
Earthquake Raises Reefs in the Solomon Islands |
| Description |
When people talk about change happening on a geologic time scale, most of the time, they mean that the change happens over the course of millions of years: the Colorado River gradually cuts through the soft rock of the Colorado Plateau until it has made a 4,000-foot-deep chasm, the Grand Canyon, continents drift centimeters at a time, slowly changing the shape and position of landmasses on the Earth. Most of the time, change is slow, but sometimes, geologic change happens all at once. This was the case on Ranongga Island in the Solomon Islands. In the early morning hours of April 2, 2007, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake shook the Solomon Islands, its epicenter southwest of Ranongga Island. The huge quake pushed much of the island up, raising the coral reefs that ringed the island above the water. In the course of a few minutes, Ranongga Island acquired several meters of new beach. The newly exposed reef forms a gray rim along the eastern shore of the island in the left image, acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on April 12, 2007. In the right image, taken on March 31, 2006, the shallowly submerged reefs color the water a lighter shade of blue. The uplift may be more dramatic than the images show. When ASTER took the 2007 image, the tide was 29.4 centimeters higher than it was when the 2006 image was taken, and yet the uplift is still visible. The lush vegetation that covers the tropical island is bright red in this image, which is made from both visible and infrared light. Out of its aquatic environment, the reef died, becoming the foundation of new land. Such evolution is common in earthquake zones in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. During the December 26, 2004, earthquake that generated the massive Indian Ocean tsunami, Simeulue Island was lifted as much as 150 centimeters (4.9 feet), exposing the reef that surrounded it. A similar set of exposed fossilized reefs on the shores of Papua New Guinea, near the Solomon Islands, provided proof that wobbles in the Earth's orbit trigger ice ages. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]Thanks to Aron Meltzner, California Institute of Technology, for help with image interpretation. |
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Flooding from Typhoon Durian
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Flooding from Typhoon Durian |
| Description |
Mayon Volcano, steep-sided and symmetric, rises 2,462 meters above the Albay Gulf and the city of Legazpi, the regional capital, with a population of more than 150,000. The most active volcano in the Philippines, Mayon turned deadly on November 30, 2006, but it wasn't an eruption that caused the damage. The volcano had been pumping out ash and lava since July 2006, leaving a layer of loose ash and rock on its surface. On November 30, Typhoon Durian unleashed heavy rain on the island nation, and the water mixed with loose ash to create deadly mudslides. The mudslides swept over populated regions on the south and west slopes of the volcano, leaving an estimated 1,000 dead, said the Associated Press. The extent of the disaster is apparent in this image, taken by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on December 12, 2006. Mudslides are black against bright red plant-covered land in this image. Populated areas, such as the city of Legazpi and its neighbor, Daraga, are cement gray, with flashes of silvery white made by highly reflective surfaces. Larger squares of tan north of the cities are probably agricultural fields. The lower image, taken on April 10, 2004, provides a view of conditions before the 2006 mudslides. In the two years that elapsed between the two images, the city appears to have grown. Squares of red plant-covered areas have been replaced by silver-gray city, particularly in Daraga. Silvery squares extending along the western edge of the mudflow indicate that the city probably extended farther up the mountain, possibly in some of the area covered by mud. Much of the agricultural land visible in the 2004 image has been buried by the mud flow. The area shown here is just one of the regions devastated by landslides after Typhoon Durian. Additional slides over the city of Guinobatan, west of the area shown here, are visible in the large image. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and the U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
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Flooding from Typhoon Durian
| Title |
Flooding from Typhoon Durian |
| Description |
Mayon Volcano, steep-sided and symmetric, rises 2,462 meters above the Albay Gulf and the city of Legazpi, the regional capital, with a population of more than 150,000. The most active volcano in the Philippines, Mayon turned deadly on November 30, 2006, but it wasn't an eruption that caused the damage. The volcano had been pumping out ash and lava since July 2006, leaving a layer of loose ash and rock on its surface. On November 30, Typhoon Durian unleashed heavy rain on the island nation, and the water mixed with loose ash to create deadly mudslides. The mudslides swept over populated regions on the south and west slopes of the volcano, leaving an estimated 1,000 dead, said the Associated Press. The extent of the disaster is apparent in this image, taken by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on December 12, 2006. Mudslides are black against bright red plant-covered land in this image. Populated areas, such as the city of Legazpi and its neighbor, Daraga, are cement gray, with flashes of silvery white made by highly reflective surfaces. Larger squares of tan north of the cities are probably agricultural fields. The lower image, taken on April 10, 2004, provides a view of conditions before the 2006 mudslides. In the two years that elapsed between the two images, the city appears to have grown. Squares of red plant-covered areas have been replaced by silver-gray city, particularly in Daraga. Silvery squares extending along the western edge of the mudflow indicate that the city probably extended farther up the mountain, possibly in some of the area covered by mud. Much of the agricultural land visible in the 2004 image has been buried by the mud flow. The area shown here is just one of the regions devastated by landslides after Typhoon Durian. Additional slides over the city of Guinobatan, west of the area shown here, are visible in the large image. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and the U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
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