September 9, 2021 - The Stunning Sands of Mauritania
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Mauritania
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The country of Mauritania sits on the northwestern coast of Africa,
straddling both North Africa’s Maghreb region and West Africa’s Sahel.
With tan and salmon-tinted sands playing against the rugged rocky
outcroppings of the Adrar Plateau, most of the interior of Mauritania
is remarkably dry and hot year-round. One of the most sparsely
populated countries in Africa, most Mauritanians choose to live along
the coast rather than endure the heat and winds of this region. Still,
a few cities are scattered along the Adrar Plateau and some farmers and
herders earn their living in pockets of moister areas that exist in
some valleys.
On September 8, 2021, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of
the interior of Mauritania. The dark tan of the rocky terrain laid bare
by the strong desert winds contrasts with the wide streaks of
orange-toned sand. A remarkable feature of the Adrar Plateau is
peculiar circular formation known as the Richat Structure. Although the
concentric rings bear resemblance to an impact crater, this structure
is actually a well-eroded remnant of an ancient volcanic dome. Over
time, the large dome hardened and then slowly eroded, exposing the
onion-like layers of rock. This structure can be seen in the far
eastern section of the ochre-colored gorge.
Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 9/8/2021
Resolutions: 1km (228.9 KB), 500m (636.7 KB), 250m (1.4 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-09-09
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