Photo #: STS51G-37-28 Date: Jun. 1985 Geographic Region: BOLIVIA Feature: LAKE TITICACA |
STS51G-037-0028 Lake Titicaca, Bolivia and Peru May 1985 Lake Titicaca, cupped in a depression in the Altiplano (high plains) between the eastern (cloud-covered) and western (not visible) ranges of the Andes Mountains, can be seen in this low-oblique, southwest-looking view. Covering an area of 3200 square miles (8290 square kilometers), Lake Titicaca is the largest freshwater lake in South America and, at 12 500 feet (3815 meters) above sea level, the world's highest navigable lake. The lake is nearly 120 miles (190 kilometers) long, averages 45 miles (72 kilometers) in width, and has an average depth of nearly 900 feet (275 meters). The two basins of the lake are connected by the Strait of Tiquina. Fed by rainfall and meltwater from glaciers on the high peaks that border the Altiplano, Lake Titicaca is drained by the Desaguadero River, which flows south from the lake into Lake Poopo (not visible on the photograph). Traces of former shorelines ringing its basin reveal that Lake Titicaca was even larger in the past. At the end of the Ice Age, approximately 12 000 years ago, torrents of meltwater from the huge ice cap that once blanketed the Andes Mountains poured into a virtual inland sea known as Lake Ballivian. Its shoreline was about 150 feet (45 meters) above the present level of Lake Titicaca. Even today, the water level varies as much as 16 feet (5 meters) from season to season and year to year. Much of the present lake water is lost through evaporation caused by intense sunshine and strong winds. Numerous Indian villages, once the center of Inca Indian life, now crowd the lake shoreline. The constant temperature of the lake at 51 degrees Fahrenheit (11 degrees Celsius) modifies the climate and makes growing maize and wheat possible at such a high altitude. (Refer to STS-057-075-046 for a later photograph and description of Lake Titicaca.) |
Images: | All Available Images Low-Resolution 118k |
|
Mission: | STS51G |
|
Roll - Frame: | 37 - 28 |
|
Geographical Name: | BOLIVIA |
|
Features: | LAKE TITICACA |
|
Center Lat x Lon: | 15.9S x 69.1W |
|
Film Exposure: | N | N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus |
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: | 20 |
|
Camera:: | HB |
|
Camera Tilt: | 36 | LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical |
Camera Focal Length: | 100 |
|
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: | W | The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West |
Stereo?: | Y | Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't |
Orbit Number: | 82 |
|
Date: | 19850622 | YYYYMMDD |
Time: | 160011 | GMT HHMMSS |
Nadir Lat: | 15.2S |
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft |
Nadir Lon: | 67W |
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft |
Sun Azimuth: | 10 | Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point |
Space Craft Altitude: | 180 | nautical miles |
Sun Elevation: | 50 | Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point |
Land Views: | MOUNTAIN, VOLCANO, PLAIN, BASIN |
|
Water Views: | LAKE, SEDIMENT, RIVER |
|
Atmosphere Views: | |
|
Man Made Views: | |
|
City Views: | |
|
Associated Photos in Sequence: Photo #: STS057-99-65 Description: PERU/BOLIVIA-1993; L. TITICACA, L. POOPO REGION-SYNOPTIC VIEW Sequence ID: 5A Photo #: STS51G-37-28 ** Currently displayed photo ** Description: LAKE TITICACA-1985--DETAILED VIEW; LAKE LEVEL Sequence ID: 5B Photo #: STS057-75-46 Description: LAKE TITICACA-1993--DETAILED VIEW; LAKE LEVEL CHANGE Sequence ID: 5C |
NASA Home Page |
JSC Home Page |
JSC Digital Image Collection |
Earth Science & Remote Sensing |
|