These gully systems are the planet’s most extensive, and were formed naturally in the deep windblown deposits of Gobi Desert silt. Sediment washing from these drainages adds greatly to the fertile effects of yearly floods on the North China Plain. The badlands are among the major reasons that China developed agriculture as early as it… Read more »
Edge of North
The Caribou Mountains of northern Alberta dominate this late summer image, where deciduous foliage on the cusp of autumn’s turn gives the splashes of yellow-green. The large river is the Peace, and nearby wheat fields are the continent’s most northerly commercial scale agriculture. The image’s upper half is within the Wood Buffalo National Park, where… Read more »
Lomsak
Heavy rural populations farm the extensive mid-levels of this landscape, but the hills and mountains are left fairly pristine. The striking heart-shaped hill in the upper middle is Phu Kradung, a favorite hiking mountain for young Thais – with restaurants and tented accommodations on the plateau (a 9 km walk). On the left is the… Read more »
End of the Lena
A huge and obscure river in eastern Siberia brings great volumes of warm water to the Arctic Ocean each summer. Ecologically this delta is very important for the continent’s migratory birds and sea life. As the Arctic warms this coast will carry new ship traffic, and the delta will be subjected to a broad series… Read more »
Caribees
The three dominant islands of the Caribbean are very different. Cuba’s eastern two-thirds is modest in its variety of terrain, but both Jamaica and Hispanola are rifted and surprisingly complex, with abrupt basins and limestone plateaus. The larger pair have shore terrace systems near their eastern ends, which hints at onslaughts from the sea, perhaps… Read more »
Edge of a Continent
This early Earthpattern treatment of the US’s Mid-Atlantic region used cool colors to offset graphically a beige highlighting – this in turn made contrasts within the Allegheny Plateau with its lightning bolt valley incisions, and the ridge and valley folded hills of the more southeasterly highlands. Dark grays near the seashore suppress the lines of… Read more »
Beyond the Ice
This place is different, on the north shore of Greenland. The bluest ice is Danmark Fjord, the main icecap is at the top (southern) edge, and the dry valleys between are an arctic desert scattered with minor icecap remnants and the troughs of various now-depleted valley glaciers. A few clouds hover above the smooth icecap… Read more »
Borden Island
These three islands locked in the frozen Arctic Ocean are also patterned with low lying fog, as vague popcorns obscure most of the land surface detail, with the exception of the two-toned Borden Island. Here are graceful drainage ways filled intermittently with snow, and an emptiness which asks very little of the observer. Forgotten places… Read more »