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Dust Plumes off Iceland
| Title |
Dust Plumes off Iceland |
| Description |
Plumes of dust blew off the southern coast of Iceland in late June 2007. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image on June 23, 2007. The dust appears as grayish blurs emanating from the coast southward over the North Atlantic Ocean. Blue-green algal blooms also fringe the coastline. Iceland's winter of 2006-2007 brought relatively light snow, leaving the local vegetation little shelter from frost. Both the vegetation and soil dried further in two weeks of arid weather prior to this dust storm. Strong winds from the north added the final ingredient needed for dust plumes in late June. You can download a 250-meter-resolution KMZ file of Iceland [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Jul2007/iceland_tmo_2007174.kmz ] suitable for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/ ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. Image interpretation by Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir, University of Iceland. |
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Landslide Buries Valley of t
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| Title |
Landslide Buries Valley of the Geysers |
| Description |
Geysers are a rare natural phenomena found only in a few places, such as New Zealand, Iceland, the United States (Yellowstone National Park), and on Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula. On June 3, 2007, one of these rare geyser fields was severely damaged when a landslide rolled through Russia's Valley of the Geysers. The landslidea mix of mud, melting snow, trees, and boulderstore a scar on the land and buried a number of geysers, thermal pools, and waterfalls in the valley. It also blocked the Geyser River, causing a new thermal lake to pool upstream. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this infrared-enhanced image on June 11, 2007, a week after the slide. The image shows the valley, the landslide, and the new thermal lake. Even in mid-June, just days from the start of summer, the landscape is generally covered in snow, though the geologically heated valley is relatively snow free. The tree-covered hills are red (the color of vegetation in this false-color treatment), providing a strong contrast to the aquamarine water and the gray-brown slide. According to the Russian News and Information Agency (RIA [ http://en.rian.ru/ ]) [English language], the slide left a path roughly a kilometer and a half (one mile) long and 200 meters (600 feet) wide. Within hours of the landslide, the water in the new lake inundated a number of additional geysers. The geysers directly buried under the landslide now lie under as much as 60 meters (180 feet) of material, according to RIA reports. It is unlikely that the geysers will be able to force a new opening through this thick layer, adds RIA. Among those directly buried is Pervenets (Firstborn), the first geyser found in the valley, in 1941. Other geysers, such as the Bolshoi (Greater) and Maly (Lesser) Geysers, were silenced when buried by water building up behind the new natural dam. According to Vladimir and Andrei Leonov of the Russian Federation Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, [ http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/expeditions/2007/Geyser_Valley-06-2007/Geyser_Valley-06.htm ], the new lake appears to be stable and draining gradually through the earthen dam, alleviating fears of a catastrophic flood. Should the new lake drain enough, many of the inundated geysers may restart. Initial reports from the Volcanology and Seismology Institute state this has already happened for some geysers. Geysers outside of the slide region, including the Velikan (Giant) Geyser and a major section of the geyser field known as Vitrazh (Stained Glass) appear to have escaped damage. In addition to destroying a number of geysers, the landslide may have damaged habitats in the Valley of the Geysers. The thermal waters and heated steam jets made this valley warmer than the surrounding landscape, and the warmth supported a unique ecosystem. The loss of a large part of its heat source may alter the ecosystem, but it is not clear what additional longer-term changes might occur. For example, salmon that spawn in the Geyser River will be confined to the lower reaches of the river, and bears, which depended on salmon, will need to shift feeding grounds correspondingly. Thanks to Sergey Chernomorets and Boris Yurchak for information and translation. You can download a 15-meter-resolution KMZ file of Valley of the Geysers [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Jun2007/kamgeysers_ast_2007162.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/ ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. |
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North Atlantic Bloom
| Title |
North Atlantic Bloom |
| Description |
Reminiscent of the distinctive swirls in a Van Gogh painting, millions of microscopic plants color the waters of the North Atlantic with strokes of blue, turquoise, green, and brown. Fed by nutrients that have built up during the winter and the long, sunlit days of late spring and early summer, the cool waters of the North Atlantic come alive every year with a vivid display of color. The microscopic plants, called phytoplankton, that give the water this color are the base of the marine food chain. Some species of phytoplankton are coated with scales of calcium (chalk), which turn the water electric blue. Chlorophyll and other light-capturing pigments in others give the water a deep green hue. The proliferation of many different species in various stages of growth and decay provides many nuances of color in this concentrated bloom. The bloom stretches across hundreds of kilometers, well beyond the edges of this photo-like image, captured on June 23, 2007, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) flying aboard NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. The upper left edge of the image is bounded by Greenland. Iceland is in the upper right. Plumes of dust [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14345 ] are blowing off the island, probably adding nutrients to the surface waters to its south. NASA image courtesy Norman Kuring, Ocean Color Group at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center |
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North Atlantic Bloom
| Title |
North Atlantic Bloom |
| Description |
The intense blue and green colors of the ocean water in this photo-like image, captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on July 15, 2007, are made by millions of surface-dwelling ocean plants. Called phytoplankton, the plants are the base of the marine food chain. The brilliant color shown here may only be a part of the full bloom. Stocked with nutrients that have built up during the winter and bathed in the long, sunlit days of late spring and early summer, the cool waters of the North Atlantic come alive every year with a vivid display of color that can stretch over thousands of kilometers. You can download a 250-meter-resolution KMZ file of the North Atlantic bloom [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Jul2007/iceland_amo_2007196.kmz ] suitable for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/ ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the MODIS data archives. [ http://ladsweb.nascom.nasa.gov/ ] |
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Dust Plumes off Iceland: Nat
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Plumes of dust blew off the
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iceland_tmo_2007174
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2007-06-23 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
iceland_tmo_2007174 |
|
Landslide Buries Valley of t
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Geysers are a rare natural p
…
kamgeysers_ast_2007162
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2007-06-11 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
kamgeysers_ast_2007162 |
|
North Atlantic Bloom: Natura
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Reminiscent of the distincti
…
IcelandBloom_AMO_2007174
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2007-06-23 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
IcelandBloom_AMO_2007174 |
|
Ireland: Image of the Day
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle
…
Between 51.5 and 55.5 degree
…
Ireland_AMO_2007122
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2007-05-02 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. |
| identifier |
Ireland_AMO_2007122 |
|
North Atlantic Bloom: Image
…
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle
…
Reminiscent of the distincti
…
ge_07830
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2007-06-23 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA image courtesy Norman Kuring, Ocean Color Group at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center |
| identifier |
ge_07830 |
|
Landslide Buries Valley of t
…
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle
…
Geysers are a rare natural p
…
ge_07789
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2007-06-01 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. |
| identifier |
ge_07789 |
|
Landslide Buries Valley of t
…
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle
…
Geysers are a rare natural p
…
ge_07789
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2007-06-01 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. |
| identifier |
ge_07789 |
|
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