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Scattered in a sea of sand, inselbergs in Namibia host ecology uniquely influenced by fog.
Published Sep 4, 2018
In a land with little water, the wind does the landscaping most of the time. Ephemeral water leaves a mark, though.
Published Jul 29, 2018
Sand dunes and outcrops add color and dimension across the Namib Sand Sea.
Published Jan 13, 2020
Sand dunes march through southwestern Libya today, but during the past several million years, this region was a lake district.
Published Dec 15, 2011
This astronaut photograph shows classic large and small sand masses of the central Sahara Desert, where wind is a more powerful land-shaping agent than water.
Published Jan 19, 2009
A fracking-fueled demand for round and durable sand has triggered a mining boom in the western part of the state.
Published Mar 14, 2018
Astronauts see sixteen sunrises every 24 hours.
Published Nov 6, 2017
Freshened surface water and abundant nutrients lead to an explosion of algae in the inland sea.
Published May 31, 2015
Namibia’s sea of sand is bounded on its northern side by the impermanent Kuiseb River.
Published Jan 2, 2020
The arrow-shaped island in the Aral Sea used to be a 35-kilometer-long visual marker, indicating the Aral Sea to astronauts. An image from the present International Space Station increment shows how much the coastline has changed as the sea level has dropped during the last three decades.
Published Aug 15, 2005
Thunderhead anvils stretch out in three dimensions against the thin blue envelope of the atmosphere.
Published Nov 14, 2016
A slight rise of rocky land interrupts the linear dunes of the Empty Quarter.
Published Apr 22, 2012
Inspired by the nearly-full moon, space station astronauts used an 800 mm lens to study the craters and mare. This view, taken October 5, 2001, is centered on Crater Copernicus, surrounded by the Mare Serenitatis and Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Serenity and Sea of Tranquility), Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains), Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms) and Mare Nubium (Sea of Clouds). The bright crater and ejecta trails of Tycho dominate this near-side view. For scale, the crater of Tycho is 85 km in diameter.
Published Jan 13, 2002
Intensive sand mining has dramatically changed the northern branch of China’s largest freshwater lake.
Published Mar 18, 2016
The inland sea in Central Asia has a host of distinctive features along its shores.
Published Oct 24, 2016
Winds shape the sands that were left behind by an ancient river.
Published Jun 4, 2012
Tucked between Siberia and Russia's frozen Kamchatka Peninsula, the Sea of Okhotsk was a field of ice in February 2007.
Published Feb 8, 2007
