Sentinel Spies Snowy Siberia

by | Nov 2, 2016

An image captured by the ESA Copernicus Sentinel-2A satellite shows part of Siberia's Putoransky State Nature Reserve, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Credit: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2016), processed by ESA)

An image captured by the ESA Copernicus Sentinel-2A satellite shows part of Siberia's Putoransky State Nature Reserve, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Credit: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2016), processed by ESA)

The European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel-2A satellite collected this image of the Putorana Plateau in northern Central Siberia. Situated about 100 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, the site serves as a major reindeer migration route and is one of the few centers of plant species richness in the Arctic.

Virtually untouched by human influence, this isolated mountain range includes pristine forests and cold-water lake and river systems. The lakes are characterised by elongated, fjord-like shapes, such as Lake Ayan in the upper-central part of the image. Zooming in on the lake shows that it is mostly ice-covered, with small patches of water peeking through around its lower reaches.

Another feature of this area is the flat-topped mountains formed by a geological process called plume volcanism: a large body of magma seeped through Earth's surface and formed a blanket of basalt kilometers thick. Over time, cracks in the rock filled with water and eroded into the current rivers and lakes.

 

NEWEST V1 MEDIA PUBLICATION

October Issue 2023