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Kamloops Area, British Columbia, Canada (August 1989)

STS028-083-026

Three colors dominate this near-vertical photograph of the mountainous area surrounding the urban area of Kamloops, a city with an estimated population of 70 000, in southern British Columbia, Canada. The green hues in the photograph show the heavily forested, rugged mountainous terrain. In marked contrast, the more highly reflective surfaces (tan areas) are areas where the vegetation cover has been removed. Within the green forests are many rectangular (checkerboard) patterns of lighter color where logging operations have clearcut the trees. The long, thin lines are power line rights-of-way where the vegetation has been removed. The dark blues are glacial lakes that are found in many of the valleys throughout this region. Kamloops is located at the confluence of the north and south branches of the Thompson River, which flows generally westward into the Fraser River. Kamloops is barely discernible at the eastern end of Kamloops Lake (west of center of the photograph) near the center of the nonforested area. In addition to being a resort center, the city is also a supply center for the mining and lumbering industries. A circular structure southwest of Kamloops appears to be an open pit, probably a copper mine.

Kauai, Hawaii (August 1995)

STS069-728-037

The oldest and fourth largest of the Hawaiian Islands, Kauai is the center of this south-southwest-looking, low-oblique photograph. Kauai lies 105 miles (170 kilometers) northwest of Honolulu across the Kauai Channel. Of volcanic origin, the highest point on the mountainous island is Mount Waialeale at the center of the island [5148 feet (1570 meters) above sea level]. Soils on Kauai are very fertile, particularly on the north part of the island where pineapple, rice, and sugarcane are grown; ranching is also an important agricultural industry. The wettest spot on Earth, with an annual average of 460 inches (11 648 millimeters), is located just east of Mount Waialeale. The high annual rainfall has eroded deep valleys in Kauai’s central mountains, carving out canyons with many scenic waterfalls. The city of Lihue, on the island’s southeast side, is the seat of Kauai County and the main city on the island. Waimea, on the island’s southwest side and once the capital of Kauai, was the first place visited by explorer Captain James Cook in 1778. The city is at the head of one of the most famous and scenic canyons in the world, Waimea, whose gorge is 3000 feet (9144 meters) deep. The northeastern tip of the island of Niihau is visible near the southwest corner of the photograph.

Kayrakkumskoye Reservoir, Tajikistan (August 1989)

STS028-080-030

In the southeastern Turkestan region, political geography is complex, and in places the countries’ boundaries look like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The borders of no fewer than three independent states—Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan—are intertwined in this near-vertical photograph of an arid, mountainous landscape. The Kayrakkumskoye Reservoir, which was formed by building a dam on the Syr-Dar’ya River, is actually in the country of Tajikistan; some siltation can be seen at the eastern end of the reservoir. After leaving the reservoir, the Syr-Dar’ya River flows first westward and then northerly after it passes the southwestern tip of the Kuraminskiy Mountains. Because the region is classified as semiarid or steppe climate, receiving an average of 20 inches (50 centimeters) of precipitation annually, agriculture in the valleys and the lowlands is possible because snowmelt and water from glaciers are used for crop irrigation. The Kuraminskiy Mountains border the Syr-Dar’ya River Valley to the north where elevations average 9000 feet (2740 meters) above sea level; south of this valley, the more formidable snowcapped Turkestanskiy Mountains, oriented east-west, rise with elevations ranging from 11 000 to more than 16 000 feet (3350 to 4875 meters) above sea level.

Kunlun Mountains and Tarim Basin, China (June 1991)

STS040-609-024

The western Kunlun Mountain Range, higher and narrower than the eastern range, and the southern Tarim Basin are visible in this spectacular, east-looking, low-oblique photograph. The Kunlun Mountains extend generally eastward from the Pamir Mountains (northwest of the area pictured in the photograph) for about 1800 miles (2880 kilometers) between the Tibetan Plateau to the south and the Tarim Basin to the north. For most of this distance, the mountains form a north and south double system of ranges, separated by a belt of depressions. The largely inaccessible and uninhabited Kunlun Mountains average 20 000 feet (7000 meters) in elevation, similar to the Himalayas, but contain fewer outstanding peaks. The mineral wealth of the Kunlun Mountains is largely unexplored. The Tarim Basin, a large depression approximately 900 miles (1550 kilometers) long and 300 miles (500 kilometers) wide, is surrounded on three sides by towering mountain ranges. Beneath the belt of gravel along the foot of the mountain ranges, ground water forms from seepage of surface waters fed by mountain snowmelt. At lower elevations is a concentrate belt of finer deposits where ground water irrigates oases (visible in the photograph along the Yarkant River) that have been inhabited by farmers and nomads since ancient times. Visible near the tan northeast portion of the photograph is the Takla Makan, one of the world’s driest deserts, with shifting sands interrupted only by patches of clay. One of the many routes of the Silk Road between China and Europe passed through the southern part of the Tarim Basin north of the Kunlun Range.

800 DPI

Kuwait Oil Well Fires and Smoke (April 1991)

STS037-152-091

The effects of Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein’s setting fire to the oil wells in Kuwait during February 1991 is graphically captured in this near-vertical photograph of the northwestern end of the Persian Gulf. The black smoke plumes of more than 700 individual oil well fires are being blown to the south. Kuwait City is located on the south side of Kuwait Bay, southwest of the Tigris-Euphrates Delta. Fortunately, the oil well fires were extinguished in much less time than had been originally predicted, and the environmental damage created by the fires and smoke was mostly confined to the immediate region around the northwestern Persian Gulf. (Refer to STS-046-074-094 for a photograph of the same area to see how quickly the desert is reclaiming the land in this region.)

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