Aleutian Range: NASA Photo of the Week

NASA Image of Alaska Peninsula and Aleutians

A rare cloud-free day in winter across the tip of the Alaska Peninsula and nearby Aleutian Islands.

NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a striking image of the Alaska Peninsula and adjacent Aleutian Islands when it passed overhead early in the afternoon of November 19, 2008.

The image to the right from the spacecraft’s MODIS sensor clearly shows the snow-covered land areas in silhouette with the surrounding waters of the North Atlantic and Bering Sea.

Dimly visible around Sand Point and to the east of Unimak are some smaller islands with low elevations that have remained relatively free of snow in early winter thanks to the surrounding temperate waters of the North Pacific.

The Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands make up the Aleutian Range of highly active volcanic mountains.

Mount Shishaldin, on Unimak Island, is one of the ten most active volcanoes in the world.

It and other mountains in the Aleutian Range were created by the uplifting tectonic activity of the North Pacific Plate subsiding beneath a portion of the North American Plate.

Some of the highest mountains show up in this image, casting a dark shadow on their northern slopes due to the extremely low sun angle even at midday during this time of year in far northern latitudes.

The area currently receives only a little more than 8 hours of sunlight each day, with the length of day becoming nearly 3 minutes shorter each day at about a month before the Winter Solstice.

Full story and image: NASA