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ISS006-E-38864
photo ID ISS006-E-38864
ISS006-E-38864         Click the photo number to access all resolutions available and the database record.
River Plate estuary, Buenos Aires and Montevideo: 16 March 2003, 50 mm. The bright area in the middle of the view is the 200 mile-long Argentine estuary known as the River Plate. The estuary appears bright here mainly due to sunglint on the water, but also due to the light-colored sediment that is delivered to the estuary by two great rivers that enter from the west (left), the Paraná and the Uruguay. The Paraná is building out a delta into the estuary (left margin). This view illustrates well how the Paraná delta has almost cut off the Uruguay River (top left) from its connection to the estuary.

Buenos Aires appears as an irregular light-colored patch on the south side of the estuary (left center). City sprawl follows major highways that radiate away from the metropolis. Thirteen million people, fully one third of the population of Argentina, live in this major capital city. The smaller university city of La Plata appears as a small bright patch (center) east of Buenos Aires.

Much of the small country of Uruguay appears across the top of the view. Uruguay's capital city, Montevideo, appears on the north side of the estuary (right), and is a favorite vacation destination for wealthy porteños, the inhabitants of Buenos Aires.

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