STS41B-46-2955
| NASA Photo ID | STS41B-46-2955 |
| Focal Length | 250mm |
| Date taken | 1984.02.__ |
| Time taken | GMT |
Resolutions offered for this image:
5320 x 5266 pixels 640 x 633 pixels 5700 x 5900 pixels 483 x 500 pixels 640 x 480 pixels
5320 x 5266 pixels 640 x 633 pixels 5700 x 5900 pixels 483 x 500 pixels 640 x 480 pixels
Cloud masks available for this image:
Spacecraft nadir point:
Photo center point: 2.5° S, 36.0° E
Photo center point by machine learning:
Photo center point: 2.5° S, 36.0° E
Photo center point by machine learning:
Nadir to Photo Center:
Spacecraft Altitude: nautical miles (0km)
Country or Geographic Name: | TANZANIA |
Features: | LAKE NATRON |
| Features Found Using Machine Learning: | |
Cloud Cover Percentage: | 1 (1-10)% |
Sun Elevation Angle: | ° |
Sun Azimuth: | ° |
Camera: | Hasselblad |
Focal Length: | 250mm |
Camera Tilt: | Near Vertical |
Format: | 6017: Kodak Ektachrome 64, 220 Roll Format |
Film Exposure: | Normal |
| Additional Information | |
| Width | Height | Annotated | Cropped | Purpose | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5320 pixels | 5266 pixels | No | No | Earth From Space collection | Download Image |
| 640 pixels | 633 pixels | No | No | Earth From Space collection | Download Image |
| 5700 pixels | 5900 pixels | No | No | Download Image | |
| 483 pixels | 500 pixels | No | No | Download Image | |
| 640 pixels | 480 pixels | No | No | Download Image |
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Image Caption: STS41B-46-2955 Lake Natron, Tanzania February 1984
The Great Eastern Rift Valley, a major fissure in the Earth's crust, extends from the Middle East to Mozambique in east Africa. Lake Natron, one of a series of East Africa Rift Valley lakes resulting from the rifting process, formed as a large block of the lithosphere dropped to create a graben, a trench-like depression. The lake has an exceptionally high concentration of salts and is known as a soda (sodium carbonate) lake. Natron, with its pink color that results from the pigmented microorganisms on top of the salt crust, is home to enormous flocks of flamingos that congregate to breed on the alkaline mud flats. Because the shallow lake sits at the terminus of an isolated drainage basin, evaporation determines the water level and the extent of the superficial salt crust. Visible in the photograph are a small volcano at the north end of the lake and a much larger volcano at the southeast end of the lake. The north-south trending features on either side of the lake are fault scarps that result from the east-west stretching of east Africa. (Refer to photograph STS-029-092-038, taken 5 years later, to see differences in Lake Natron.)
The Great Eastern Rift Valley, a major fissure in the Earth's crust, extends from the Middle East to Mozambique in east Africa. Lake Natron, one of a series of East Africa Rift Valley lakes resulting from the rifting process, formed as a large block of the lithosphere dropped to create a graben, a trench-like depression. The lake has an exceptionally high concentration of salts and is known as a soda (sodium carbonate) lake. Natron, with its pink color that results from the pigmented microorganisms on top of the salt crust, is home to enormous flocks of flamingos that congregate to breed on the alkaline mud flats. Because the shallow lake sits at the terminus of an isolated drainage basin, evaporation determines the water level and the extent of the superficial salt crust. Visible in the photograph are a small volcano at the north end of the lake and a much larger volcano at the southeast end of the lake. The north-south trending features on either side of the lake are fault scarps that result from the east-west stretching of east Africa. (Refer to photograph STS-029-092-038, taken 5 years later, to see differences in Lake Natron.)
