ISS006-E-42125 Click the photo number to access all resolutions available and the database record.
The tree line, above which trees cannot grow can be discerned in the view: most of the view is dark green, indicating the thick southern forests, whereas along ridge crests bare rock surfaces appear.
Melimoyu is one of a string of 37 volcanoes in the southern Andes between 35 and 52°S that reach above the snow line. Scientific interest in these volcanoes is small, but the new ability of astronaut and other imagery to capture detailed views means that the extent of ice cover can be monitored--for global warming reasons (and to monitor changes due to melting induced by volcanic eruptions, although Melimoyu itself has not erupted for at least 10,000 years).
