Ecuador

Orbit 36002, Frame 7191, 21 April, 2002 03:52 GMT

This ERS-2 radar image shows the central part of the Ecuadorian highlands, part of the mountain chains that run north-south along the Pacific front of the Americas.
Their formation is the result of the westward drift of the continent and its collision with oceanic plates of the earth's crust. The consequences of this drift are not only an uplift of the land mass but also intense fracturing, which gives rise to volcanic activity and also results in catastrophic earthquakes.
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.
Details of Quito, Ecuador's capital, the Guayllabamba watershed, the Andean lakes of Cuicocha and San Pablo, the town of Ibarra and the Imbabura and Cayambe volcanoes can be viewed by clicking on the thumbnail image.

Coordinate:
NE Lat/Long: N 00.09/ E 77.58
NE Lat/Long: N 00.11/ E 79.58
NE Lat/Long: N 02.00/ E 79.56
NE Lat/Long: N 02.00/ E 78.03

A very high resolution image, 2002 x 2050 pixels, 1216839 bytes, is also available.

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