Akpatok Island

Akpatok Island lies in Ungava Bay in northern Quebec, Canada. Accessible only by air, Akpatok Island rises out of the water as sheer cliffs that soar 500 to 800 feet (150 to 243 m) above the sea surface. The island is an important sanctuary for cliff-nesting seabirds. Numerous ice floes around the island attract walrus and whales, making Akpatok a traditional hunting ground for native Inuit people.

Akpatok Island.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.6 miles (2.5 km)],
January 22, 2001.
Geography and Map Division (1)

Aleutian Clouds.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 2.3 miles (3.7 km)],
June 16, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (2)

Aleutian Clouds

These cloud formations were seen over the western Aleutian Islands. Their color variations are probably due to differences in temperature and in the size of water droplets that make up the clouds.

Araca River

Brazil's Araca River is a tributary of the Negro River, which feeds into the Amazon.

Araca River.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.9 miles (3.0 km)],
March 15, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (3)

Atlas Mountains.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 3.7 miles (6.0 km)],
June 22, 2001.
Geography and Map Division (4)

Atlas Mountains

These are the Anti-Atlas Mountains, part of the Atlas Mountain range in southern Morocco in North Africa. The region contains some of the world's largest and most diverse mineral resources, most of which are still untouched.

Guinea-Bissau

Shown is Guinea-Bissau, a small country in West Africa. Complex patterns can be seen in the shallow waters along its coastline, where silt carried by the Geba and other rivers washes out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Guinea-Bissau.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 3.0 miles (4.9 km)],
December 1, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (5)

Bolivian Deforestation.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 2.1 miles (3.4 km)],
August 1, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (6)

Bolivian Deforestation

Once a vast carpet of healthy vegetation and virgin forest, the Amazon rain forest is changing rapidly. This image of Bolivia shows dramatic deforestation in the Amazon Basin. Loggers have cut long paths into the forest, while ranchers have cleared large blocks for their herds. Fanning out from these clear-cut areas are settlements built in radial arrangements of fields and farms. Healthy vegetation appears red in this image.

Parana River Delta

The Parana River delta is a huge forested marshland about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The area is a very popular tour destination. Guided boat tours can be taken into this vast labyrinth of marsh and trees. The Parana River delta is one of the world's greatest bird-watching destinations. This image highlights the striking contrast between dense forest and wetland marshes, and the deep blue ribbon of the Parana River.

Parana River Delta.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
1" = 1.4 miles (2.25 km)],
May 26, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (7)

Chilean Volcanoes.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 3.0 miles (4.9 km)],
May 15, 1999.
Geography and Map Division (8)

Chilean Volcanoes

On the border between Chile and the Catamarca province of Argentina lies a vast field of currently dormant volcanoes. Over time, these volcanoes have laid down a crust of magma roughly 2 miles (3.5 km) thick. It is tinged with a patina of various colors that can indicate both the age and mineral content of the original lava flows.

Coahuila, Mexico

This desolate landscape is part of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range, on the border between the Coahuila and Nuevo Leon provinces of Mexico.

Coahuila, Mexico.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.5 miles (2.4 km)],
November 28, 1999.
Geography and Map Division (9)

Dasht-e Kevir.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 2.3 miles (3.6 km)],
October 24, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (10)

Dasht-e Kevir

The Dasht-e Kevir, or Great Salt Desert, is the largest desert in Iran. It is a primarily uninhabited wasteland, composed of mud and salt marshes covered with crusts of salt that protect the meager moisture from completely evaporating.

Demini River

A marsh-like area borders the Demini River in northwestern Brazil. The Demini eventually joins the Amazon River.

Demini River.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.4 miles (2.2 km)],
March 15, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (11)

"Dragon Lake."
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[ 1" = 3.4 miles (5.5 km)],
December 19, 1999.
Geography and Map Division (12)

"Dragon Lake"

Nicknamed "Dragon Lake," this body of water is formed by the Bratskove Reservoir, built along the Angara River in southern Siberia, near the city of Bratsk. This image was taken in winter, when the lake is frozen.

Florida Everglades

Spanning the southern tip of the Florida Peninsula and most of Florida Bay, Everglades National Park is the only subtropical preserve in North America. It contains both temperate and tropical plant communities, including sawgrass prairie, mangrove and cypress swamps, pinelands, and hardwood hammocks, as well as marine and estuarine environments. The park is known for its rich bird life, particularly large wading birds, such as the roseate spoonbill, wood stork, great blue heron, and a variety of egrets. It is also the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles exist side by side.

Florida Everglades.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1"= 3.7 miles (6.0 km)],
February 5, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (13)

Ganges River Delta.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 4.3 miles (6.9 km)],
February 28, 2000.
Geography and Map Division.(14)

Ganges River Delta

The Ganges River forms an extensive delta where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. The delta is largely covered with a swamp forest known as the Sunderbans, which is home to the Royal Bengal Tiger.

Garden City, Kansas

Center pivot irrigation systems created these circular patterns in crop land near Garden City, Kansas. The red circles indicate irrigated crops of healthy vegetation. The light-colored circles represent harvested crops.

Garden City, Kansas.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 2.2 miles (3.5 km)],
September 25, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (15)

Ghadamis River.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.6 miles (2.6 km)],
November 6, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (16)

Ghadamis River

This scar on an arid landscape is the dry riverbed of the Ghadamis River in the Tinrhert Hamada Mountains near Ghadamis, Libya.

Greenland Coast

Along Greenland's western coast, a small field of glaciers surrounds Baffin Bay.

Greenland Coast.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 0.8 miles (1.3 km)],
September 3, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (17)

Great Sandy Scars.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.6 miles (2.5 km)],
August 22, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (18)

Great Sandy Scars

In a small corner of the vast Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia, large sand dunes--the only sand in this desert of scrub and rock--appear as lines stretching from left to right. The light-colored fan shapes are scars from wildfires.

West Fjords

The West Fjords are a series of peninsulas in northwestern Iceland. They represent less than one-eighth the country's land area, but their jagged perimeter accounts for more than half of Iceland's total coastline.

West Fjords.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.7 miles (2.8 km)],
June 6, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (19)

Iraqi Emplacement.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.4 miles (2.2 km)],
January 24, 2001.
Geography and Map Division (20)

Iraqi Emplacement

In an area north of the city of Al-Basrah, Iraq, which borders Iran, a former wetland has been drained and walled off. Now littered with minefields and gun emplacements, it is a staging area for military exercises.

Karman Vortices

Each of these swirling clouds is a result of a meteorological phenomenon known as a Karman vortex. These vortices appeared over Alexander Selkirk Island in the southern Pacific Ocean. Rising precipitously from the surrounding waters, the island's highest point is nearly a mile (1.6 km) above sea level. As wind-driven clouds encounter this obstacle, they flow around it to form these large, spinning eddies.

Karman Vortices.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 4.3 miles (6.9 km)],
September 15, 1999.
Geography and Map Division (21)

Kilimanjaro.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 4.7 miles (7.6 km)],
February 21, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (22)

Kilimanjaro

Portions of Kenya and Tanzania, in East Africa, can be seen in this image. The peak of Kilimanjaro is on the right; the mountain is flanked by the plains of Amboseli National Park to the north and the rugged Arusha National Park to the south and west.

Konari, Iran

The Mand River and the small town of Konari nestle in the Zagros Mountains in western Iran.

Konari, Iran.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.9 miles (3.1 km)],
February 2, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (23)

Lake Carnegie.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 2.0 miles (3.2 km)],
May 19, 1999.
Geography and Map Division (24)

Lake Carnegie

Ephemeral Lake Carnegie, in Western Australia, fills with water only during periods of significant rainfall. In dry years, it is reduced to a muddy marsh.

Icefall, Lambert Glacier, Antarctica

The Lambert Glacier in Antarctica, is the world's largest glacier. The focal point of this image is an icefall that feeds into the Lambert glacier from the vast ice sheet covering the polar plateau. Ice flows like water, albeit much more slowly. Cracks can be seen in this icefall as it bends and twists on its slow-motion descent 1,300 feet (400 meters) to the glacier below.

Icefall, Lambert Glacier, Antarctica.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.6 miles (2.5 km)],
December 2, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (25)

Lena Delta.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 4.8 miles (7.7 km)],
July 27, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (26)

Lena Delta

The Lena River, some 2,800 miles (4,500 km) long, is one of the largest rivers in the world. The Lena Delta Reserve is the most extensive protected wilderness area in Russia. It is an important refuge and breeding ground for many species of Siberian wildlife.

MacDonnell Ranges

The MacDonnell Ranges are a band of mountains spanning Australia's arid interior. Only a portion of the Ranges can be seen in this image.

MacDonnell Ranges.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.8 miles (2.8 km)],
August 1, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (27)

Malaspina Glacier.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.4 miles (2.3 km)],
August 31, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (28)

Malaspina Glacier

The tongue of the Malaspina Glacier, the largest glacier in Alaska, fills most of this image. The Malaspina lies west of Yakutat Bay and covers 1,500 sq mi (3,880 sq km).

Mayn River

The Mayn River, seen here with what is thought to be a portion of the Anadyr River, flows through the far northeastern corner of Siberia.

Mayn River.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.4 miles (2.2 km)],
October 25, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (29)

Namaqualand.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.9 miles (3.1 km)],
August 23, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (30)

Namaqualand

Namaqualand in South Africa is known as the "Gem of the Northern Cape." Portions of this area were turned into a national park in 1999, to preserve the abundant wildlife and brilliant wildflowers native to the area.

Namib Desert

Namib-Naukluft National Park is an ecological preserve in Namibia's vast Namib Desert. Coastal winds create the tallest sand dunes in the world here, with some dunes reaching 980 feet (300 meters) in height.

Namib Desert.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.8 miles (2.9 km)],
August 12, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (31)

Edrengiyn Nuruu.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 4.5 miles (7.3 km)],
August 13, 1999.
Geography and Map Division (32)

Edrengiyn Nuruu

The Edrengiyn Nuruu forms a transition zone between the Mongolian steppes to the north and the arid deserts of northern China to the south.

Sulaiman Mountains

The Sulaiman Mountains are a major geological feature of Pakistan and one of the bordering ranges of the Indian subcontinent.

Sulaiman Mountains.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 2.8 miles (4.5 km)],
April 28, 2001.
Geography and Map Division (33)

Richat Structure.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.7 miles (2.8 km)],
January 11, 2001.
Geography and Map Division (34)

Richat Structure

The so-called Richat Structure is a geological formation in the Maur Adrar Desert in the African country of Mauritania. Although it resembles an impact crater, the Richat Structure formed when a volcanic dome hardened and gradually eroded, exposing the onion-like layers of rock.

Terkezi Oasis

A series of rocky outcroppings are a prominent feature of this Sahara Desert landscape near the Terkezi Oasis in the country of Chad.

Terkezi Oasis.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.6 miles (2.5 km)],
October 22, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (35)

"The Optimist."
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.4 miles (2.2 km)],
August 14, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (36)

"The Optimist"

On the edge of the Kalahari Desert in Namibia, sand dunes are encroaching onto once-fertile lands in the north. Healthy vegetation appears red in this image; in the center, notice the lone red dot. It is the result of a center-pivot irrigation system, evidence that at least one optimistic farmer continues to work the fields despite the approaching sand.

Volga River Delta

Where the Volga River flows into the Caspian Sea, it creates an extensive delta. The Volga Delta is comprised of more than 500 channels and sustains the most productive fishing grounds in Eurasia.

Volga River Delta.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 2.8 miles (4.5 km)],
August 29, 1999.
Geography and Map Division (37)

Great Sandy Desert.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 2.8 miles (4.5 km)],
February 24, 2001.
Geography and Map Division (38)

Great Sandy Desert

The western region of Australia's Great Sandy Desert is in an area almost devoid of sand but characterized by complex geology.

Whirlpool in the Air

This image shows a spinning formation of ice, clouds, and low-lying fog off the eastern coast of Greenland.

Whirlpool in the Air.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.7 miles (2.8 km)],
May 14, 2001.
Geography and Map Division (39)

Yellowknife Wetlands.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 2.8 miles (4.5 km)],
July 3, 2001.
Geography and Map Division (40)

Yellowknife Wetlands

Extensive wetlands lie near the town of Yellowknife, near the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories, Canada. The shallow lakes seen in this image have formed in grooves in the landscape that were carved by glaciers during the last Ice Age.

Karman Vortices near Broutona

These Karman vortices formed over the islands of Broutona, Chirpoy, and Brat Chirpoyev ("Chirpoy's Brother"), all part of the Kuril Island chain found between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula and Japan.

Karman Vortices near Broutona.
Kodak R3 facsimile map,
[1" = 1.6 miles (2.5 km)],
June 5, 2000.
Geography and Map Division (41)