Central Alaska and the Bering Strait

Credit: Jeff Schmaltz; MODIS team; NASA , Posted on: Sunday, 15 November 2009, 06:43 CST Download full size image

Snowy central Alaska is featured in this image captured by the MODIS on the Aqua satellite on November 1, 2009. The Bering Strait, on the left side of the image, is the body of water that separates Alaska's Seward Peninsula from Siberia to the west. The Strait is full of sea ice in the winter, but as it is still early in the season, ice hasn't formed yet. Once it does form, it won't disappear until late spring.

Running across the length of Alaska is the Yukon River; it empties into the Bering Sea and turns the waters closer to shore gray with sediments. It's especially visible toward the center of the image, where it appears white against the brown terrain.

In the bottom right corner is the Cook Inlet. In this image it is surrounded by brown terrain, and then snowy mountains. This body of water is colored gray by fine glacial silt brought in by the Susitna River and its tributaries. The city of Anchorage is located at the eastern end of the Cook Inlet.

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