Mexico - May 13th, 2012

Fires continue to burn parallel to the western coast of Mexico, near the mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental (click here for images captured earlier this month). Here, clouds have formed above the mountains, making it difficult to discern the individual blazes; however, the source of one large fire can be observed in the upper left quadrant. Smoke from the fires blows southwestward, over the coast, creating a veil over the southern part of the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) and a section of the Pacific Ocean.

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Russia - May 14th, 2012

A plume of smoke blows southward off the coast of Russia, over the Sea of Okhotsk, between Sakhalin Island (left edge) and the Kamchatka Peninsula (right edge). A thinner veil of smoke is also visible over Shakhalin, blowing eastward towards Kamchatka. At the bottom of the Kamchatka Peninsula, by the left edge (best viewed in the full image) is the snow-capped Bolshaya Ipelka Volcano, an immense shield volcano.

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Australia - May 12th, 2012

Fires in the northern part of Western Australia release plumes of smoke that blow due west. Fire season in this part of Australia usually begins in May and ends in November. Since the region is currently at the beginning of its dry season, vegetation in the area is still relatively moist, meaning that fires should be relatively easy to contain. Click here to see images of fires in the region in late April, before the official beginning of the fire season.

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Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil - May 13th, 2012

This image of South America stretches across Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil. The Argentine border is basically demarcated by the Uruguay River, flowing down from the upper part of the image and joining with the Paraná River in the lower left quadrant to create the sediment-filled Rio de la Plata Estuary. The city of Buenos Aires is visible on the lower shores of the estuary.

In the upper part of the image, the outline of the Argentine province of Misiones appears dark green, in contrast with the surrounding terrain of Brazil (to the northeast) and Paraguay (to the northwest). Visible along the Paraguay border is the lake created by the Yacyretá Dam, a dam and hydroelectric power plant built over the waterfalls of Jasyretâ-Apipé on the Paraná River, between the Argentine Province of Corrientes and the Paraguayan City of Ayolas.

Finally, visible in the lower right quadrant, by the Uruguay-Brazil border, are two large, sediment-filled lagoons: Laguna Merín (Lagoa Merim), shared by the two countries (below), and Lagoa dos Patos, located entirely in Brazil (above).

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Spain and Morocco - May 11th, 2012

The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa. Europe and Africa are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.3 km; 8.9 mi) of ocean at the strait’s narrowest point.

The Strait’s depth ranges between 300 and 900 metres (160 and 490 fathoms; 980 and 3,000 ft). Here, the strait appears mostly sediment free, as do the waters of the Mediterranean Sea to the east. Some sediments are visible where the Guadalquivir River enters the Gulf of Cádiz by the city of Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

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Australia - May 12th, 2012

Sediments surround Melville Island and fill the Van Diemen Gulf, off the coast of the Northern Territory of Australia. Melville Island is located in the Timor Sea, west of the Cobourg Peninsula in Arnhem Land and north of Darwin. Visible on the Australian mainland, in the lower right quadrant, are plumes of smoke from two wildfires, blowing towards the west-northwest.

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Mexico - May 11th, 2012

Plumes of smoke from multiple fires by the Sierra Madre Occidental, parallel to the west coast of Mexico, can be observed in this image. Also parallel to the shoreline is a trail of bright green sediments in the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez). Upon opening the full image, more smoke can be seen further east: smoke released from fires between the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Yucatán Peninsula creates a hazy cloud over the Gulf of Mexico.

Tags: Fires Gulf of California Gulf of Mexico Isthmus of Tehuantepec Mexico Sea of Cortez Sierra Madre Occidental Yucatan Peninsula | | Leave a comment

Italy, Switzerland, France - May 11th, 2012

The Alps, covered in snow, arch across the upper part of this image, marking the border between Italy (right) and Switzerland (above, left) and France (below, left). A plume of smoke from a fire near Lake Geneva blows southward and then curves to the west, trailing out over the Mediterranean Sea.

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Persian Gulf - May 11th, 2012

Dust spreads over Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan (clockwise from upper left). A thin veil of dust can be observed over the Persian Gulf, through which sediments from the Shatt al-Arab are partially visible. However, the dust is densest to the west, as it spreads over Syria and Jordan and towards Israel/Palestine and Lebanon. Some dust can even be spreading over the Mediterranean Sea (upper left quadrant), by the border with Turkey, and northwards over the Caspian Sea (upper right quadrant).

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