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Ecuador
Orbit 36002, Frame 7191, 21 April, 2002 03:52 GMT
The image reveals the morphology of three clearly distinct sections. To the right (east) the relief is rather smooth and in effect consists of old metamorphic rocks. The central part consists of the Inner-Andes Depression or Graben, mainly flat land, and to the west, a much finer drainage pattern with sharper crests eroded into mainly sedimentary rocks can be perceived.The capital Quito (circle 1) appears as many bright points in the lower left central part of the image. The area belongs to the watershed of the Guayllabamba (rectangle 2) or to the Hoya del Guayllabamba.
To the north the Chota Valley or the Hoya del Chota opens with the main town of Ibarra (circle 6) situated at the eastern edge of the plain.
Mighty volcanoes such as the Cotachi and the Imbabura (circle 5) form the separation of the two watersheds. More volcanoes are visible in the plains and at their edges, e.g. the Cayambe (circle 7). The concentric form of the volcanoes can be clearly distinguished from the long mountain chains flanking the plains.
The major lakes of the highlands and fresh water resources of the country are also visible in the image. The Laguna de Cuicocha (circle 3), a complex crater lake with three volcanic cones in the centre can be found to the west of the Chota river, and the Lago San Pablo (circle 4) is situated close to the Ibambura volcano and the town of Otavalo, world-famous for its colourful Indio market.
Click on the circled areas above to see high-resolution details of this image.
Keywords: ESA European Space Agency - Agence spatiale europeenne, observation de la terre, earth observation, satellite remote sensing, teledetection, geophysique, altimetrie, radar, chimique atmospherique, geophysics, altimetry, radar, atmospheric chemistry