Between the island of Sicily and mainland Italy runs a narrow strip of water, the Messina Strait. The Messina Strait’s strong currents can rip seaweed from the ocean floor. The main current runs from south to north, but a smaller current runs in the opposite direction. The currents alternate about every six hours, and the strait’s complicated wave patters can be seen from space.
Published Apr 29, 2007
The narrow strait between Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Saudi Arabia is an important passage for ships trying to reach Israel and Jordan.
Published Aug 5, 2013
A phytoplankton bloom appeared in one of the world’s busiest oil waterways.
Published Dec 6, 2019
This metropolis of 15 million people occupies both sides of the entrance to the narrow, 20-mile long Bosporus Strait connecting the Mediterranean and Sea of Marmara (south) to the Black Sea (north). From its founding as Byzantium by the Greeks in 600 B.C., this strategically located city has been a focus of maritime trade and commerce as well as an outpost and threshold for cultural exchange and conflict between Europe and Asia. This digital camera image was taken by the crew of the International Space Station on April 16, 2004. When this image was taken, strong currents carried turbid coastal waters from the Black Sea through the Strait and into the Sea of Marmara.
Published May 10, 2004
he southern tip of Spain and the northern tip of Africa come close to touching at the Strait of Gibraltar. The small Spanish enclave Ceuta occupies a narrow isthmus of land on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar; the rest of the surrounding territory is Morocco.
Published Aug 27, 2007
The distinctive red brick roof tiles of buildings in Ankara, Turkey, are the most striking feature in this astronaut photo from April 11, 2009.
Published May 11, 2009
Ships, trains, cars, and swimmers crowd this crossing between Britain and France.
Published Jun 17, 2018
The cultural, economic, and historic heart of Turkey glows in the night.
Published Sep 10, 2012
As sea ice around Russia’s New Siberian Islands thins and breaks-up each summer, it takes on the appearance of stained glass.
Published Nov 23, 2018
The population of Turkey’s economic and cultural center has exploded in recent decades.
Published Jan 28, 2012
Surf’s up! This image is a mosaic of two photographs taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station viewing large internal waves in the Strait of Gibraltar. These subsurface internal waves occur at depths of about 100 m, but appear in the sunglint as giant swells flowing eastward into the Mediterranean Sea. The narrow Strait of Gibraltar is the gatekeeper for water exchange between the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. A top layer of warm, relatively fresh water from the Atlantic Ocean flows eastward into the Mediterranean Sea. In return, a lower, colder, saltier layer of water flows westward into the North Atlantic ocean. A density boundary separates the layers at about 100 m depth.
Published Jun 21, 2004
