Interesting Areas

All areas of the earth can be viewed from spacecraft circling the globe or from spacecraft in geosyncronous orbits. The areas which can be photographed provide interesting images.

Some Examples:

NM23-739-093 Tongue of the Ocean, Bahamas Winter/Spring 1997
" The shallow Bahama shelf and the southern portion of the deep Tongue of the Ocean (darker water, upper right) can be seen in this northwest-looking view. The Tongue of the Ocean is one of two main branches that form the Great Bahama Canyon. The vertical rock walls of this submarine canyon rise 14060 feet (4285 meters) from the canyon floor to the surrounding seabed. The Grand Bahama Canyon has been traced for more than 140 miles (225 km) in length. The canyon has a width of 23 miles (37 km) at its deepest point and an average floor slope of about 300 feet per mile (60 meters per km). During the last Ice Age, nearly 12000 years ago, much of the Bahama Shelf was above sea level."

STS075-721-047 Mekong River Delta, Vietnam February 1996
"Rising on the Plateau of Tibet, the Mekong flows generally southeast for 2600 miles (4160 kilometers) and empties into the South China Sea through a large delta. The Mekong River Delta covers 75 000 square miles (194 250 square kilometers), and, with its many channels still depositing sediment, the delta continues to grow. The vast swampy delta, crisscrossed by many channels and canals, is one of the greatest rice-growing regions of Asia. Even though rainfall is heavy during the summer months, winters are dry and require irrigation for most of the rice-growing area. The Mekong River Delta was the scene of heavy fighting during the Vietnam War. Barely discernible northwest of the delta is Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. Point Cau Mau, the southern tip of Vietnam, is visible southwest of the delta."

Earth from Space, Johnson Space Center, JSC, Earth-Human Interactions, MM,Man-Made
http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/mm.html
Search of the preset term, "Deforestation," yielded an image of Mt Kilimanjaro with a lengthy description.

STS41B-046-2957 "Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania February 1984 Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest [19 340 feet (5898 meters)] and most celebrated mountain in Africa, is the centerpiece in this east-looking, low-oblique photograph. Looming some 16 000 feet (4900 meters) above the plains that spread out from its base, the mountain dominates its surroundings. Composed of three separate volcanoes, massive and complex Kilimanjaro covers an area 60 miles (100 kilometers) long and 40 miles (65 kilometers) wide. The volcanoes, whose lava fields overlapped and partially obliterated each other, began erupting approximately 2 million years ago. At the center is the culminating massif, Kibo (snow-covered peak near the center of the photograph), flanked by the lower summits of Mawenzi to the east and Shira to the west. The peaks of Kibo and Mawenzi are joined by a broad saddle 7 miles (11 kilometers) long. Because of Kilimanjaro’s great height, the mountain influences its own weather. Winds incoming from the Indian Ocean are deflected upward by the slopes and drop their moisture as rain and snow. This moisture results in a variety of vegetative zones that contrast dramatically with the savanna grasses and semidesert scrub on the surrounding plains. The mount’s lower slopes, probably once forested, have been cleared for the cultivation of coffee, corn, and other crops. At higher elevations [approximately 9800 feet (3000 meters)] lies a belt of tropical rain forest that gives way to grasslands and moorlands. This belt, in turn, is replaced by high-altitude desert [near 14 500 feet (4400 meters)]. At the highest elevations is a zone of permanent ice and snow that is responsible for the name Kilimanjaro, which in Swahili means "the mountain that glitters."
http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/Images/STS41B/lores/STS41B-46-2957.JPG

Mount Ararat (16,940 feet, 5165 m)
is the largest volcano in Turkey. Although not currently active, its most recent eruption has probably been within the last 10,000 years. It is located in extreme northeastern Turkey, near the borders with Iran and Armenia. Southwest of the main peak lies Little Ararat ( 12,877 feet, 3896 m). Ahora Gorge is a northeast-trending chasm dropping 6000 feet from the top of the mountain and was the focus of a major earthquake in 1840. A number of claims by different explorers to have found remnants of Noah’s Ark on Mt. Ararat have led to continuing expeditions to the mountain, many of which have focused their searches on the gorge area
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/debrief/STS102/STS102-344-23.htm

Earth from Space, Johnson Space Center, JSC, Earth-Human Interactions, MM,Man-Made
http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/mm.html

"Earth's Water Habitats, Ship Wakes," gave 4 matches.

STS61A-200-0046 Ocean Dynamics, Sea of Crete November 1985
Despite the underexposure of this southeast-looking photograph of the Sea of Crete and the small amount of information that can be gleaned from the islands (dark areas silhouetted against the water background),... This sunglint photograph shows a tremendous amount of dynamic surface water detail—spiral eddies in the Sea of Crete north of the island of Crete, two very pronounced V-shaped ship wakes in the darker water off the northeast coast of Crete (indicative of ships traveling at high speeds through a rather calm sea), and island wakes around the smaller islands north of Crete.

Click to enlarge.

STS049-077-077 Suloy and Ship Wake, Red Sea May 1992
This spectacular, near-vertical photograph clearly shows a suloy in the Red Sea between the Dahlak Archipelago and the Farasan Islands. A suloy is an unusual condition of the sea in which the surface is covered by precipitous and irregular waves that form lines at a boundary. The boundary in this photograph is caused by the flow of water in and out of the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden through the Strait of Mandeb (Vale of Tears). Little is known about suloys or "lines of chaotic seas," but knowledge increases because of photographs obtained from low-Earth orbit. A ship wake, formed from the bow of a moving ship, is visible as a V-shaped pattern just off center in the dark blue waters.

STS039-080-048 Volga River Delta, Russia May 1991
The main channel of the Volga River (lower right corner) fans out into several channels as the river enters the northern edge of the large Volga River Delta. The lighter-colored, muddy-looking water of the Volga can be seen mixing with the extensive water of the very low-lying, more stagnant, swampy water of the delta. The paralleling, east-west aligned features (upper right and left middle) are alternating sand ridges (light lines) that are separated by numerous lakes (dark, linear-looking features). There are more than 700 salt lakes included within the salt marshes of the Volga River Delta. The important Russian city of Astrakan with a population that exceeds 500000 people is visible (upper center). Astrakan has developed into a vital urban area in spite of the fact that it is 72 feet (22 meters) below sea level. The city’s growth has been aided by several important factors including irrigated agriculture; natural gas production; source of medicinal materials and salts; an abundance of building products, such as sand and limestone; and water fowl and fish habitats. A variety of industrial activities, including a large producing gas field (pattern of intersecting, light-colored lines – bottom center) that is located along the east bank of the Volga River, has also helped Astrakan become an important city in this semiarid, steppe climate.