The Earth as Art collection of photographs presented by the US Geological Survey and NASA includes beautiful photographs taken by Landsat satellites that show the entire geographic diversity of our planet.
The Earth as a Work of ArtThe Earth as a Work of Art This image looks like pale yellow paint streaks. They are actually windblown sand patterns from Erg Igidi, a region of constantly shifting sand dunes in northwest Africa. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art The raised red stripe in the center of this image is the remains of a lava flow and landslide. Its source is the now-dormant Anyui volcano in northeastern Russia (shown here as the orange circle to the right of the stripe). The remote and largely inaccessible region is a cluster of volcanoes, gently sloping valleys, and pristine snowmelt-fed rivers and streams. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art Like broad strokes of pink and green paint, the Belcher Islands cut across Canada's deep blue Hudson Bay. The islands' few inhabitants are concentrated in the small town of Sanikilihuaq, near the top of the middle island. Despite the green hues in this color-coded image, the islands are too cold to support any significant vegetation. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art Like a veritable river of ice, the fast-moving Byrd Glacier flows through the Transantarctic Mountains at a rate of 0.8 km (0.5 miles) per year. The 180 km (112 miles) long glacier moves from the polar plateau (left) to the Ross Ice Shelf (right). The long, sweeping lines are crossed in places by shorter lines that represent deep cracks in the ice. In this color-coded image, the red areas represent exposed rock. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art The Caicos Islands in the northern Caribbean are a popular tourist destination known for their beautiful beaches, clear waters, scuba diving, and luxury hotels. The islands are located on the northern perimeter of a submerged silt platform made up of sand, seagrass, and coral reefs that covers 2,500 square miles (6,140 square kilometers). In this color-coded image, the platform is turquoise and the vegetation is red. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art Punctate clouds cast shadows on the Rub' al-Khali, near the border between Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Lines of windblown sand are typical of sand deserts or sand seas, and the Rub' al-Khali is the largest such desert in the world. The ridge is high enough to disrupt the movement of the lines. At the center of this movement is the Saudi Arabian city of Sharurah. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art Like distant galaxies amid clouds of interstellar dust, chunks of drift ice float gracefully through the icy waters of Foxe Bay, near Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. Sea ice often forms as a dirty film of ice crystals on the ocean's surface. As temperatures drop, the ice thickens and coalesces into large chunks of solid ice. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art This strip of Iceland's north coast resembles the head of a tiger, with orange, black, and white stripes. The tiger's "mouth" is the deep fjord of Eyjafjörður, which juts into the land between gently rolling mountains. The name translates as "island fjord," and is derived from the island of Hrisey near the "mouth." The ice-free port city of Akureyri lies near the narrow end of the fjord and is Iceland's second-most populous city after the capital, Reykjavik. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art During the last ice age, Akimiski Island in Canada’s James Bay lay beneath vast glaciers, pressed down with incredible force. As the climate changed and the ice melted, Akimiski began to move backward. The slow but steady increase is recorded along natural edges, where the shoreline appears to be etched with raised rings, the result of uplift and wave action at previous sea levels. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art Small rectangles of towns, fields, and pastures surround the graceful swirls and curls of the Mississippi River. Endless floodplain lakes and bypass roads line the river south of Memphis, Tenn., on the border between Arkansas and Mississippi. The "Mighty Mississippi" is the largest river system in North America. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art In this Landsat image, a haze of snow nearly obscures Meighen Island (left) off the northern coast of Canada. Across the Sverdrup Channel lies the larger Alex Heiberg Island, where glaciers (blue) crowd mountain peaks (yellow) and cut deep into fjords. No evidence of human life has ever been found on Meighen Island. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art Clouds surround the high rim of Africa's Mount Elgon, a large, long-extinct volcano on the border between Uganda and Kenya. The isolated volcano has one of the largest continuous calderas. The caldera is about 4 miles (6.5 kilometers) in diameter and was formed after an eruption when an empty magma basin collapsed under the weight of the volcanic rock above it. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art Skeletal structures stretch like bony fingers across Liverpool Bay along the northern edge of Canada's Northwest Territories. Only a few villages dot this remote and inhospitable region of Arctic tundra bordering the Beaufort Sea. In summer, the relatively flat landscape is dotted with shallow lakes. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art What looks like a streak of thick red paint is actually a remarkable interaction of light and clouds in the Canadian Rockies. Angled away from the mountains is the Rocky Basin, a valley that runs from Montana to the southern Yukon Territory. Low clouds partially fill the basin near the border between the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. The reflective nature of the clouds, combined with the rising sun, is what produces the spectacular effect. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art Vibrant colors and strange shapes come together in this image that looks like something out of a fantasy book. This maze of exotic features runs along Russia's Chaun Bay in northeastern Siberia, shown here as the bright blue semicircle at the bottom of the image. Two major rivers, the Chaun and Palyavaam, flow into the bay, which in turn flows into the Arctic Ocean. Patchwork lakes and swamps, created by sediment from retreating glaciers, can be found throughout the area. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art A Van Gogh-style photo of swirls of greenish phytoplankton in the dark waters around the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. Phytoplankton are microscopic algae that form the first link in almost every marine food chain. Entire generations of phytoplankton grow when deep currents bring nutrients to the sunlit surface of the water, fueling the growth and reproduction of these tiny organisms. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art Beginning in northern British Columbia and flowing through the Yukon Territory, the Yukon River crosses Alaska before emptying into the Bering Sea. Endless lakes, sloughs, and ponds dot this Yukon River Delta. The winding, branching channels resemble blood vessels wrapped around an organ. It is one of the largest river deltas in the world and is now part of the protected Yukon National Wildlife Refuge. (USGS and NASA)The Earth as a Work of Art
At first glance, it might look like some kind of ugly ogre with something sticky in its mouth. In fact, this is the Darja Peninsula in western Turkmenistan, which lies in the shallow coastal areas of the Caspian Sea. Strong winds create huge sand dunes near the water, some of which are partially submerged. Further inland, these dunes turn into low sandy plains. (USGS and NASA)
