Sea of Okhotsk

Credit: Jeff Schmaltz; MODIS team; NASA, Posted on: Wednesday, 14 February 2007, 07:21 CST Download full size image

The Sea of Okhotsk is featured in this image acquired by the MODIS on the Terra satellite on February 6, 2007. The Sea of Okhotski is located between the north of Japan and the Kamchatka Peninsula, and bordered on the north by Siberia.

In winter, navigation on the Sea of Okhotsk becomes difficult, or even impossible, due to the formation of large ice floes, which you can see in this image. This is partly because the large amount of freshwater from the Amur River lowers the salinity and raises the freezing point of the sea.

On the right and right bottom side of the image, there are also streamers of clouds, known as streets, off the edges of the ice. Cloud streets are rows of cumulus or cumulus-type clouds that are aligned parallel to the low-level wind.

More Images

Mars
Opportunity Passes 12-Mile Marker.This artist's concept portrays NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the surface of Mars. ...

---

Universe
Quasar Pair Captured in Galaxy Collision.This composite image shows the effects of two galaxies caught in the act of merging. ...

---