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  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS061-E-6413 Date: Oct. 2019
Geographic Region: ITALY
Feature: MAIELLA, APENNINE MOUNTAINS

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  Maiella Massif, Italy

An astronaut on the International Space Station took this oblique photograph of the Maiella Massif, which stands amidst Italy's Central Apennine Mountains. Located just 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Adriatic Sea coastline, the Maiella Massif abruptly rises more 2700 meters (9000 feet) above sea level. Shadows and the oblique viewing angle give a strong three-dimensional sense to the steep, blocky cliffs and the dendritic drainage channels leading to the coast.

Complicated tectonics elevated the Maiella Massif from rock layers that were originally deposited at the bottom of the sea between 23 and 100 million years ago. The highest peak of the massif, Monte Amaro, is made of a light-colored limestone. Below the noticeably bare high plains, the tree line cuts across steep slopes. Since the photo was shot during local autumn, the tree line has a dark, reddish hue of fall color.

The massif is a geologic formation called an anticline, an arch-like structure of folded rock layers that can trap petroleum. Maiella was important to Italy's oil industry in the 19th and 20th centuries, though far fewer exploration wells have been drilled there in recent years.

In 1991, Maiella National Park (//www.parks.it/parco.nazionale.majella/Eindex.php) was created to preserve the area's unique biodiversity and archaeological significance in the Apennines.


References

 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 467k
Mission: ISS061  
Roll - Frame: E - 6413
Geographical Name: ITALY  
Features: MAIELLA, APENNINE MOUNTAINS  
Center Lat x Lon: 42.1N x 14.1E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: N8
 
Camera Tilt: HO   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 500  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: NE   The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
Stereo?:   Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
Orbit Number:  
 
Date: 20191015   YYYYMMDD
Time: 085251   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 37.8N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 6.2E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 135   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 222   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 32   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: BASIN, COAST, ITALY, MOUNTAIN, MOUNTAINS  
Water Views: SEA  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


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