Mi(ni)Geo

Uummannaq Island seen from the east in the evening. (via Jason Box)

Russia’s northernmost territory, Franz Josef Land, is an archipelago of 191 islands in the northeastern Barents Sea. On August 17, 2011, clear skies allowed the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite this unobstructed view. Clouds fringe this natural-color scene, like curtains held back from a window. Around the islands, sea ice forms serpentine shapes of light gray and dull white. The glaciers that cap many of the islands are bright white. In ice-free areas, land cover is pale brown, typical of tundra. (via NASA Earth Observatory)

Earth from Space: Summer in bloom (by europeanspaceagency)

The phytoplankton bloom pictured in this Envisat image stretches across the Barents Sea off the coast of mainland Europe’s most northern point, Cape Nordkinn. Although most types of phytoplankton are individually microscopic, the chlorophyll they use for photosynthesis collectively tints the colour of the surrounding ocean waters. This allows for these tiny organisms to be detected from space with dedicated ‘ocean colour’ sensors, such as Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer, which acquired this image on 17 August 2011. Credit: ESA.

Yes, that bloom really is that color…

The Rock of Salvation, 1837. Artist: Samuel Colman. (via Yale Digital Commons)

An engraving from the book Description de l’univers by the French geographer Alain Manesson Mallet (1683). (via SummitPost)

Fig. 1 in R. Moore, Reports of the NCSE, 31, 4 (2011): Cerro Tijeretas, Isla San Cristóbal, Galápagos.

A scene covering some 3.8km (2.3mi), shows part of community of fewer than 200 people - Inishmaan, one of the Aran Islands. Credit: Google, DigitalGlobe. (via BingoPics)

Mt Ranier (by mgjefferies)

With a long focus lens from the Kingston-Edmonds ferry!

The oldest and northernmost town in the region, near a winding river - The King River and Wyndham, Western Australia. Credit: Google, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye. (via BingoPics)

Earth from Space: Volcanic land (by europeanspaceagency)

This Envisat image shows the eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, in Russia’s far east between the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Okhotsk. The central element shows an isolated volcanic group that includes the highest active volcano in Eurasia: Klyuchevskaya Sopka. This image is a compilation of three passes by Envisat’s radar on 1 June, 6 July and 10 August 2010. Each is assigned a colour (red, green and blue) and combined to produce this representation. New colours reveal changes in the surface between Envisat’s passes. Credit: ESA.

Deepwater Soloing Poda Island, Thailand. (via NatGeo)

Omulyakhskaya and Khromskaya Bays lie along the northern Siberian coast, southeast of the Lyakhov Islands. The northerly location almost guarantees ice in the adjacent East Siberian Sea, and permafrost blankets the land around the bays. The Thematic Mapper on the Landsat 5 satellite captured this natural-color image on June 15, 2009, when ice lingered on the sea surface and on some inland water bodies. The land around the bays is dotted with thermokarst lakes, which result from water released by thawing permafrost. (…) Because thawing permafrost and thermokarst lakes release carbon and methane—both greenhouse gases—scientists monitor these landscapes closely because of their implications for future climate. (via NASA Earth Observatory)

Arctic coastal bluffs failing into Beaufort Sea, near Drew Point. Credit: Irina Overeem. (via CSDMS)

sphinx000514:

Reykjanes; Iceland by Corica on Flickr.

(Source: thehebrewhammer514)

Surrounded by the warm waters of the South Pacific, the Fiji Islands are often cloaked in clouds when the Aqua or Terra satellites fly over. But July 21, 2011, offered up a perfectly cloud-free view. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Aqua shows Fiji’s second-largest island, Vanua Levu, and the Cakaulevu Reef that shelters the island’s northern shore. (via NASA Earth Observatory)