Out of the Blue: Islands Seen From Space

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1 \# W& R" y+ h& [公仔箱論壇Islands are some of the most beautiful, peaceful, violent, desolate and unique places on Earth. While experiencing a tropical island www3.tvboxnow.com$ ~, @, D  L6 K* D/ }* {. x* I$ a
from its sandy beaches, or a volcanic island from its towering peaks is wonderful, experiencing them from above can be inspiring as well.  K# w! _$ E. y1 a! R
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We’ve collected images taken by astronauts and satellites from space of some of the most interesting islands on the planet.

1 @( \! I7 h& y% n; w6 |) n) GAtafu Atoll, Tokelau, Pacific Ocean
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Around 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 8 h; B  u% C3 o" G/ Z- E+ z( b
miles wide and is the smallest of three atolls in the Tokelau Islands, a New Zealand territory.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。$ T0 v3 S; }. M5 J
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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 tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb* U: y- B9 J, H0 G8 l. {
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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4 `9 A. u6 V5 s% }; }0 k8 N' vOnekotan Island, Russia
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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 www3.tvboxnow.com. I# A' p. |" `+ _( j
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。0 Z9 w- m8 n/ H, G% A
island at around 4,300 feet.3 M9 |, R2 P3 W; @/ ]

Onekotan is in Russia’s Kuril Islands between Japan and the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula. The islands were formed by volcanic activity www3.tvboxnow.com- K9 |8 W3 M" ~
caused by the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate. Subduction can also generate some of the largest earthquakes
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 F. u- b. W7 V: Ttvb now,tvbnow,bttvbcaptured by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite on June 10, 2009.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。+ k$ y/ H: P2 G# Q6 t

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  p( S. e# Y  A4 MGalapagos Islands, Pacific Ocean公仔箱論壇( o' }* {5 A' X$ T, P3 M9 l! o

) S/ z4 M' y. L4 ?tvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThe 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。( F+ D/ _. r9 w/ |+ t, |' J' 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, 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。+ P9 G$ y: \' M/ R; \' R
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.www3.tvboxnow.com/ u" k. f9 H% k+ w- V# ]
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Maldives, Indian Oceantvb now,tvbnow,bttvb: \% I3 b6 Y! k

  A) F9 ?% p' k8 b7 S9 }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,
the average elevation of which is a little more than 3 feet. It is probably the lowest country in the world.

( U  R3 x2 y+ Z, fThis image of the North and South Malosmadulu Atolls was taken in 2002 by the ASTER instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb' L* }4 k( f5 p# t
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Henrietta Island, East Siberian Sea. G; v# h% o2 B) ?8 }# K
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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# z8 ?' |) H+ }: L. i" f
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$ k5 k( k! w! y; g
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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" p( M3 e" U7 O- D5 _. O, F3 Mof coral reefs and deposited in dunes by ocean currents.www3.tvboxnow.com- D& @3 d2 K, S- }
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This 2002 image was captured by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Located in the middle of the Bahamas, Eleuthra Island8 x6 J2 o& o7 D8 r# x5 a
is 110 miles long, and in places just over a mile wide. Around 8,000 people live there.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。6 H- w" B2 o3 |  \3 t

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5 V" F; r0 h, v; i7 b" XAugustine Volcano, Alaska

8 o( b% x  s) H7 V3 T0 e/ {3 gThe most active volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian arc, Augustine Volcano’s biggest historical eruption occurred in 1883. It has been erupting for 公仔箱論壇; [& \! a9 H. X) a6 v0 B
40,000 years. This image, captured by The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA ’s Terra satellite - S4 R  J8 T2 W6 Z
in 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, Indonesiatvb now,tvbnow,bttvb6 Y! Z+ _' }; E# e% {- B+ \* c
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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 公仔箱論壇& a( W  w3 E$ h3 {! f: M- @  T% ?
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( u7 h* e" i9 e/ Q* R
of two tectonic plates. This image was captured by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite in 2000.7 J: S3 p0 _* f# t+ M, x; B

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Hawaiian Islands, Pacific Oceantvb now,tvbnow,bttvb. Q& P( S# F5 @  W  V7 y1 y. W. Q8 W

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
1 b5 k" v! `/ b+ n公仔箱論壇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 公仔箱論壇* L* m7 w6 I9 Z$ n- K
crust beneath them cooled.
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" a" a# Q7 c( t% HToday, the hotspot is causing active volcanism on the Big Island of Hawaii. Kilauea Volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983. The rest
6 b& F5 S5 c7 T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 : u% G' o7 f$ s2 m# B2 B# d1 n
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, 6 _; L3 Y4 V  H1 u8 d  C9 {5 D4 I. {
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
8 _/ @+ K: y7 ]www3.tvboxnow.comthe crust beneath them cooled.公仔箱論壇3 ^( B% w) L+ b" A  K5 g

5 V9 O' i/ q8 e0 ?, h# A' |Today, the hotspot is causing active volcanism on the Big Island of Hawaii. Kilauea Volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983. The
  k5 f* }+ T7 [3 M2 K/ trest of the islands, which get older from right to left, are Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau. This image was captured www3.tvboxnow.com5 H( s" L3 `7 @! K
by the MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.$ Z/ {) E2 n' x' U$ w6 m

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Alejandro Selkirk Island, South Pacific Ocean9 s) g2 Y* p5 r6 M% {$ k3 j) V  I

3 B, ]- o( V6 M8 bwww3.tvboxnow.comThis 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
; H9 }9 e7 L5 |1 }) t' S' B6 W5 dto 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 tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb+ K6 f' A: |; v
pattern 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
by the Landsat 7 satellite in 1999.公仔箱論壇& T' r$ G! E$ z; A5 u0 ?# ^
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Millennium 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
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 公仔箱論壇3 O  P' I( V6 Z. _2 w) @
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
) R- H. ?" z& u7 q; waboard the International Space Station on July 1, 2009.