Bayan Zag
Lexington to Montgomery
Aden
Korea
Iberia
Puebla
Yukon Delta 2002
Tifernine
Around Asia
Near Asheville
Atitlan
Ciudad de Mexico 2000
Suez
Cerros Colorados
The eastern foothills of the Andes are important areas for Argentina’s agriculture, as rivers from the mountains are impounded to supply electricity and irrigation for crops. Many types of volcanic surfaces in this region shine in spite of their aridity. The peaks of the title are at low center, and have a unique gully pattern… Read more »
Opening
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 »
Marzuk
The constant wind of the central Sahara has clustered its moving sand in great oblate dunefields called Ergs. This one is in the southwestern corner of Libya, and is spilling downwind into a rift valley. This area was a populous node during pluvial times which were associated with the continental glacial advances. Several important archeological… Read more »
Arabia
Brazos
From the Rio Grande to the Mississippi, the coast of Texas has a pleasing arch with plentiful barrier islands and lagoons, coastal marshes and swamps. Inland 100 miles, however, the flat plains and lazy river valleys climb into a rolling, dissected landscape. Local relief and choppiness are quite uniform over a wide area. High densities… Read more »
Part of Down Under
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 »
Escarpments
The geometry of East Africa’s rift troughs seemed impossibly complex, until Shuttle-based elevation data allowed such views as this in 2005. From the north of Kenya to central Zimbabwe, rift trends cross and pass under each other like a roller coaster. Colors range from torrid down low to the moderate greens of the most temperate… Read more »
Balkan Parts
Centering on the lower Danube with its feathery tributaries, this palette was designed to isolate the tallest hills while staying fairly quiet and a bit on the sad side. Low seashores are made indistinct, and the gray tones are surprisingly readable in distinguishing the degree of local dissection. This is a topographically complex part of… Read more »
Far to the East
The spatial isolation of Japan and Korea is clear from this rendition of elevations stretching from Taiwan to Kamchatka. The mainland is marked by the courses of the Yangtze River on the left and the Amur River on the right. Major volcanoes are obvious in North Korea, Honshu and Hokkaido, and on the many island… Read more »
Land of Edges
More of the Colorado Plateau is found in Arizona than in any of the other four corner states. In this elevation graphic it forms a broad green platform for a variety of different mountain types: the massive volcanoes at lower right, the cone fields of the center, long mesas near the upper edge, and the… 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 »
Around Tibet
Tibet is by far the planet’s largest mountain feature, and affects winds and seasons, deserts and rivers, people and metaphysics. The great rivers of Huang Ho, Yangtze, Mekong, Salween, Irrawaddy, Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, and Amu Dar’ya all rise from its slopes, and support well over half of the world’s population. Shrinking glaciers render the critical… Read more »