Rio de la Plata Estuary

Credit: Jeff Schmaltz; MODIS team; NASA, Posted on: Sunday, 23 September 2007, 09:23 CDT Download full size image

This image, captured by the MODIS on the Terra satellite shows the Rio de la Plata Estuary, on August 21, 2007. The Rio de la Plata estuary is formed by both the Uruguay River and the Parana River, and is on the southeastern coastline of South America.

The estuary is actually between the countries of Uruguay (top) and Argentina (bottom), and opens up into the Atlantic Ocean. The capital cities of both countries are actually right on the estuary. Buenos Aires, Argentina is visible as a semi-circular gray patch on the southwestern end of it. Montivideo, Uruguay is a smaller grayish patch near the north side of the opening of the estuary.

A great deal of sediment is carried into the estuary each year, where the muddy waters are stirred up by winds and the tides. The few red dots you see are the locations of active fires.

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