Out of the Blue: Islands Seen From Space

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Islands are some of the most beautiful, peaceful, violent, desolate and unique places on Earth. While experiencing a tropical island 2 `  D  l3 G3 }% {* A2 c; I+ y+ I( l
from its sandy beaches, or a volcanic island from its towering peaks is wonderful, experiencing them from above can be inspiring as well.
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6 e6 E6 Z8 u# j& b8 {. ?公仔箱論壇We’ve collected images taken by astronauts and satellites from space of some of the most interesting islands on the planet.

Atafu Atoll, Tokelau, Pacific Ocean* j$ m  Q3 H) a# l( S, _

' M6 {) B2 p( Q/ z4 x: s( OAround 500 people live on Atafu Atoll, mostly in a village that can be seen on the corner in the left of the image above. Atafu is just five
# e' |( s& U# e4 a% M) x公仔箱論壇miles wide and is the smallest of three atolls in the Tokelau Islands, a New Zealand territory.公仔箱論壇# n5 {- m6 [- ^; G: o/ ], R
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Atafu is made up of coral reefs that surrounded the flanks of a volcano that has since become inactive and submerged. Like many tropical
4 T7 g. I* F; Z公仔箱論壇atolls, Atafu is very low lying and vulnerable to sea-level rise. This photograph was taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station in January.7 ?* y) o' M8 d- h8 {5 G; W
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Onekotan Island, Russia' j) I$ Q+ I9 o5 c. r. K& U" K
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An island within an island was created after a big eruption around 9,000 years ago caused the peak of Onekotan’s volcano to collapse, forming
- Z" b4 k" M# j1 oa caldera that subsequently filled with water. The island inside the caldera is known as Krenitzyn Peak, which is the highest point on the
( x; ^" j! h" S' \  |- Uisland at around 4,300 feet.7 y- X! y6 S1 M. b

2 [# g" a6 u% @9 [1 V! b  u7 lOnekotan is in Russia’s Kuril Islands between Japan and the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula. The islands were formed by volcanic activity
$ }* R  O$ A+ ^( b0 J/ mcaused by the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate. Subduction can also generate some of the largest earthquakes 公仔箱論壇8 Y$ D' S' n1 Z0 W
on Earth, including a magnitude 9 here in 1952 which was followed a week later by Krenitzyn’s only historical eruption. This image was 8 S6 m6 F- |& C0 o9 p1 w. P
captured by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite on June 10, 2009.
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Galapagos Islands, Pacific Ocean- ?7 n  L% r8 s( a6 r% F1 ^9 J6 [# {: J

The Galapagos Islands are the tops of volcanoes on the sea floor off the coast of South America along the equator. The volcanic activity 7 a* w# @( |- N2 q7 o; U
that formed the islands is thought to be the result of a plume of hot mantle material rising from deep in the Earth’s interior.
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The largest island, Isla Isabela, is made of the lava flows of six gently sloped shield volcanoes. The northernmost of Isabela’s volcanoes,
, J" K- ?/ y. ?' rat the top of the image above, is Wolf Volcano, which has erupted at least nine times since 1797. This image was taken by the Landsat
7 satellite in 2001.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。; H0 ^5 o( A  T) X" ^* J: Q0 G' g- I

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3 n7 o% R( s: L+ T( m公仔箱論壇Maldives, Indian Ocean
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The Maldives comprise 1,192 small coral islands adding up to just 115 square miles of territory. About 330,00 people live on the islands, 公仔箱論壇" Y; @6 J6 W' W  v6 @4 G
the average elevation of which is a little more than 3 feet. It is probably the lowest country in the world.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb+ P! k/ a% l# w) w
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This image of the North and South Malosmadulu Atolls was taken in 2002 by the ASTER instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.
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Henrietta Island, East Siberian Sea
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This glacier-covered Russian island is just 6 miles wide. Beneath the ice, the island is made up of 500-million-year-old volcanic rocks overlain by
younger sedimentary rocks. This image was taken by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 satellite on April 30, 2009.
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Eleuthera Island, Bahamas
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The spectacular underwater formations to the west of Eleuthera Island are made of calcium carbonate sand that has been eroded off
' U% l! Y4 j! I; w0 n- W: c1 ]of coral reefs and deposited in dunes by ocean currents.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。9 {. z" H4 n+ X7 G: P! i: C
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This 2002 image was captured by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Located in the middle of the Bahamas, Eleuthra Island
7 v! ^. w# R" q+ e: Q# l5.39.217.76is 110 miles long, and in places just over a mile wide. Around 8,000 people live there.
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4 |5 g1 J& Y/ P5 k2 M5.39.217.76Augustine Volcano, Alaska5.39.217.76. l' M% I% L9 Z5 ?: E) ]9 I

* z9 X& A1 N( B: X; y4 G% v0 Q$ DThe most active volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian arc, Augustine Volcano’s biggest historical eruption occurred in 1883. It has been erupting for
9 `$ M# T+ c& T  ^: }6 o5.39.217.7640,000 years. This image, captured by The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA ’s Terra satellite
3 f: [1 A/ _- r! p# V% q公仔箱論壇in April 2006, shows a steam or ash plume at the tail end of several months of explosive eruptions.
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# q/ }  ^$ C) N4 p, A! j2 SLesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia
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/ p: L" |9 G& M0 _/ F/ XThe three largest islands in this image, and many smaller ones, make up Indonesia’s Komodo National Park which was established in 1980 to protect tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb! U) [. _! ~  a
the world’s largest lizard species, Komodo dragon. The total area of the park is 230 square miles. The islands are volcanoes caused by the collision 公仔箱論壇  R7 `# Y! z. I7 M/ g& ~/ B
of two tectonic plates. This image was captured by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite in 2000.
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" y; B* h7 {* {9 J5 T; y6 e8 f  z! lHawaiian Islands, Pacific Ocean5.39.217.76) l( C& [) l( K

The Hawaiian Islands were formed by an upwelling plume of hot mantle material, called a hotspot. As the Pacific plate moved over the hotspot, it
formed a chain of islands that first grew larger as they actively erupted, and then slowly eroded and sank below the surface of the ocean as the
; b# }# O& O" X$ R* e: ]crust beneath them cooled.
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+ G# ^6 `8 o- Y& h7 l公仔箱論壇Today, the hotspot is causing active volcanism on the Big Island of Hawaii. Kilauea Volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983. The rest tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb8 Y) O. _2 a: D% ~  S
of the islands, which get older from right to left, are Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau. This image was captured by the
3 L4 j* }! d1 H" ?9 m& b公仔箱論壇MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.Hawaiian Islands, Pacific Ocean
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The Hawaiian Islands were formed by an upwelling plume of hot mantle material, called a hotspot. As the Pacific plate moved over the hotspot, tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb1 f, k- C4 P4 Y! ~
it formed a chain of islands that first grew larger as they actively erupted, and then slowly eroded and sank below the surface of the ocean as
* f2 G6 Z+ }& y: M! zthe crust beneath them cooled.
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Today, the hotspot is causing active volcanism on the Big Island of Hawaii. Kilauea Volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983. The ! b% i. F  Y; P7 o) s+ W+ X" _( B
rest of the islands, which get older from right to left, are Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau. This image was captured tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb5 k% r# I2 y+ ^. g( A, e9 Y3 `
by the MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.5.39.217.76$ j+ D9 `+ m4 y7 W3 [# s) `5 c* ^6 R) g
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Alejandro Selkirk Island, South Pacific Ocean7 s- v- D; L. f: l0 m3 ^6 c

# m6 Y/ U" }2 D1 H公仔箱論壇This small member of the Juan Fernandez Islands off the coast of Chile measures just under a mile across. But its 5,000 feet of elevation is high enough
to reach the layer of stratocumulus clouds pictured above. The result is a type of flow known as a von Karmen vortex street. This striking, curly
. L3 G/ O0 ^2 Itvb now,tvbnow,bttvbpattern of eddies can also be seen in clouds, and fluids or air moving past rounded objects such as an airplane wing. This image was taken
# S: Z. _, t6 U& a2 M8 E1 l: d1 Jby the Landsat 7 satellite in 1999.
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4 g; G3 o! O$ h5.39.217.76Millennium Island, Republic of Kiribati, South Pacific Ocean
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Also known as Caroline Island, Millennium Island is made of coral reefs that grew around a volcano, which is now underwater, leaving behind a 1 A/ D+ }- _7 i. r8 p) t
central lagoon. The maximum elevation of the island is less than 20 feet above sea level. In the past, the island has been inhabited and mined TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。- c' g: I2 s2 T/ s# d4 r
for guano, though today there are no people and it is among the world’s most pristine tropical islands. This image was taken by astronauts 公仔箱論壇, P- k$ ^) g) j6 s! |
aboard the International Space Station on July 1, 2009.