Out of the Blue: Islands Seen From Space

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( P% x- d) U5 Rtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbIslands are some of the most beautiful, peaceful, violent, desolate and unique places on Earth. While experiencing a tropical island 5.39.217.766 K1 t/ p  R5 a$ `; g2 ]+ ~
from its sandy beaches, or a volcanic island from its towering peaks is wonderful, experiencing them from above can be inspiring as well.公仔箱論壇! i1 }. z" y  ^& o2 P  G

4 x. s0 ^- ^' [We’ve collected images taken by astronauts and satellites from space of some of the most interesting islands on the planet.
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Atafu Atoll, Tokelau, Pacific Ocean

) j' h! L4 C; u) x. u* u4 y: uAround 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 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。0 B6 p; j, h9 Y. O
miles wide and is the smallest of three atolls in the Tokelau Islands, a New Zealand territory.

Atafu is made up of coral reefs that surrounded the flanks of a volcano that has since become inactive and submerged. Like many tropical
5 e# T* ]: g! ]8 P0 _7 }; y" ^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.
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8 Y  {$ s% z* v6 X' q9 [Onekotan Island, Russia

. a7 ^/ O5 p4 F7 }3 T公仔箱論壇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
a caldera that subsequently filled with water. The island inside the caldera is known as Krenitzyn Peak, which is the highest point on the 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。/ k9 t, ^. r& ~5 u& I) R
island at around 4,300 feet.: g! {! M% _3 W9 ?

3 z0 j& \6 A+ ~! mOnekotan is in Russia’s Kuril Islands between Japan and the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula. The islands were formed by volcanic activity
3 {$ n7 h2 t5 M4 M) q公仔箱論壇caused by the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate. Subduction can also generate some of the largest earthquakes
+ E% |" [/ s9 a3 u" oon Earth, including a magnitude 9 here in 1952 which was followed a week later by Krenitzyn’s only historical eruption. This image was
captured by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite on June 10, 2009.
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0 g: }5 I/ Z' n公仔箱論壇Galapagos Islands, Pacific Oceantvb now,tvbnow,bttvb4 f# C' D6 N* F# J( l  h) q

The Galapagos Islands are the tops of volcanoes on the sea floor off the coast of South America along the equator. The volcanic activity 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。+ }  Q( z0 ^0 J+ |4 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., O8 n8 n! E4 S4 c5 f7 `+ A4 H* v
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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, 5.39.217.76, Y* ~; u1 M0 a2 e6 H4 g
at 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。7 H4 R/ C$ F# {  N0 B
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Maldives, Indian Ocean. a6 b+ ~5 W5 Z, V. P
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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, 3 c" R7 _5 ]/ x: D  h: n' i' j
the average elevation of which is a little more than 3 feet. It is probably the lowest country in the world.

" k: \! }) a0 F1 J5.39.217.76This 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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8 X. L4 ^% Y; ]# _) J公仔箱論壇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 公仔箱論壇* E: g. z0 p/ n7 N- S: b
younger sedimentary rocks. This image was taken by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 satellite on April 30, 2009.公仔箱論壇  ^5 v4 r+ D; x2 g( L3 s, w

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Eleuthera Island, Bahamastvb now,tvbnow,bttvb1 m2 q+ A. s5 o+ _4 Y% C, a
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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
& k, ^# q1 }! Y2 wtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbof 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。: U$ _+ k: T; h4 H: j; P7 i( r! ^
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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公仔箱論壇. {7 L6 O' l( [6 }9 Q+ X$ S3 g
is 110 miles long, and in places just over a mile wide. Around 8,000 people live there.

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Augustine Volcano, Alaskatvb now,tvbnow,bttvb! t0 O5 ~8 B) A7 q( Z
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The most active volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian arc, Augustine Volcano’s biggest historical eruption occurred in 1883. It has been erupting for
9 x! s. T" h" R/ F$ l$ y5.39.217.7640,000 years. This image, captured by The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA ’s Terra satellite
9 x6 `0 Q* \- x. Stvb now,tvbnow,bttvbin April 2006, shows a steam or ash plume at the tail end of several months of explosive eruptions.
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Lesser Sunda Islands, IndonesiaTVBNOW 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。6 O5 M% _( u2 c2 Y; o8 x* c6 r0 W

The three largest islands in this image, and many smaller ones, make up Indonesia’s Komodo National Park which was established in 1980 to protect
/ u( U2 z$ {* vthe 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 / c1 c4 g) }7 o( ^$ S. t9 t  e
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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" o, t- u* X! S3 |- E5.39.217.76Hawaiian 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, it 5.39.217.767 u% \  Q. J- V+ j
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
) K( {$ U4 i3 P% \4 p! S4 z2 ]crust beneath them cooled.! h' I: F, A9 L2 m; a/ w
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。+ D  w1 ~6 |/ C: X/ y" G3 s. D# z9 n
Today, the hotspot is causing active volcanism on the Big Island of Hawaii. Kilauea Volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983. The rest
5 o1 E) N& n& k) b; X公仔箱論壇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 ( p% c! A+ a4 Q4 I! U! i7 D
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,
4 C( K" y. w0 }- y5.39.217.76it 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 tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb4 ~8 E  R! ]: q% j  K& s, Q
the crust beneath them cooled.5.39.217.763 \" ^* J. [# K
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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 tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb' W  V0 h, Y# l- r% A- r, ]0 X5 r
rest of the islands, which get older from right to left, are Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau. This image was captured " N3 u! J# F8 j1 X8 x8 v* v- p5 a0 n
by the MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.
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Alejandro Selkirk Island, South Pacific Ocean. w! a) T3 H3 m7 d: f8 h5 [
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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 公仔箱論壇5 z$ n) R2 f$ t- w/ U2 a
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
  {1 Y0 L8 k% s" z) P' mpattern 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 tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb) D$ X. s4 c8 F! O$ ?" y0 y* U
by the Landsat 7 satellite in 1999.公仔箱論壇$ {+ F3 J; _/ a

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Millennium Island, Republic of Kiribati, South Pacific Ocean# X5 ?! f2 Y! r, Y$ ~% ~8 D
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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
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
% b5 v1 l( I! {4 r' m公仔箱論壇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 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。0 _/ B' w$ {0 o) y
aboard the International Space Station on July 1, 2009.