October 19, 2021 - Persian Gulf
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Persian Gulf
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On October 17, 2021, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of
the Persian Gulf.
The Persian Gulf (also known as the Arabian Gulf) is a shallow marginal
sea of the Indian Ocean, flanked by the steep, rugged, and dry
mountains on its northeast side, the wetlands of Mesopotamia on the
north, and the pastel-hued deserts of the Arabian Peninsula in the
southwest. The countries huddled along the coast of the 615-mile-
(990-km)-long Gulf include Iran, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar,
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq.
Clouds of tan, blue, and green swirl in the dark waters of the Persian
Gulf, especially along the northern shores. Closest to the coastlines,
the colors are almost certainly sediment washing into the Gulf.
Sediment appears mud-colored tan when floating near the surface, but as
it sinks the colors change to green and then to blue as it begins to
disperse. Some of the color may also be sediment churned up from the
Gulf’s shallow bed in the north near Iraq and along its southwestern
shore. In addition, growth of algae or phytoplankton (microscopic
plant-like organisms) may add some color to the waters.
The primary source of sediment in the northern Persian Gulf comes from
the Shatt al Arab River, which enters the Gulf in the north along the
Iran-Iraq border. The river drains the combined waters of the Euphrates
and Tigris Rivers of Iraq and the Karun River of Iran. Though other
rivers empty into the Persian Gulf, most of the fresh water that enters
the gulf comes from the Shatt al Arab.
Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 10/17/2021
Resolutions: 1km (539.5 KB), 500m (1.3 MB), 250m (825.1 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-10-19
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