**SHAPING THE PLANET**

**STS-89 Earth Observations Debriefing**

**Photo Captions**

**Tectonic Processes \-- South America**

***Pat Dickerson***

**STS089-743-51** High Andes between Santiago, Chile and Mendoza,

Argentina. BJ's photograph, centered on Mt. Aconcagua

(22,834 ft), was taken at about the time when ham radio

communication was established between [Endeavour]{.underline}

and members of a climbing expedition of the flanks of the

great mountain. An account of the climb by a member of

the expedition is included in your caption notebook.

**STS089-704-63** Chilean Andes near the Argentine border. This high-

oblique view was requested by W. R. Muehlberger for

research into formation of the pull-apart basin near the

center of view. Such structures form between the tips of

strike-slip faults (faults that undergo horizontal transla- tion) where
ends of the two faults overlap. In the hills

upstream from the wide alluvial fan in the upper right

corner of the view is the only apple orchard in northern

Argentina.

**STS089-742-15** This fine view embraces Mt. Aconcagua and the Andes,
Pie de Palo, and the southern Famatina range. The Precordillera occupies
most of the frame; it is a block of

North American crust that rifted away from southern

North America about 450 million years ago and became attached to western
South America. The ancient basement rocks, the sedimentary rocks that
rest upon basement, and the fossil fauna that they contain indicated
that the block

originated off central to west Texas. Rocks exposed near San Juan, for
example, are almost indistinguishable from those of the Franklin Mts.
near El Paso. The cities of San Juan and Mendoza are centers for almond,
citrus and

grape growing.

**STS089-715-67** Pie de Palo, Argentina with the long ridge of the
Western Sierras Pampeanas to the northeast. Pie de Palo is in the

northern Precordillera. Age and compositions of the rocks of this range,
which is shown in splendid detail in JR's photograph, are virtually
identical to those of the Llano uplift in central Texas.

**Human Processes \-- South America, Africa:**

**Population Pressure/Deforestation/Burning**

***Julie Robinson and Joe Caruana***

**STS089-710-026** Parque Estadual do Rio Doce, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
**STS089-710-024** This Category II reserve just north of Rio de Janeiro
is home to jaguars and other endangered species.

**STS089-718-080** Africa: The Lake Chad story. The fluctuating water
level shows the impact of human and natural processes that shape the
land use of the region.

[35-mm time series: Variations in Lake Chad water levels]{.underline}

**STS089-715-068** Western Brazilian Amazon, probably Acre State. Smoke

**and 70** palls and fires from land clearing contribute to particulate
matter in the atmosphere over the region.

**STS089-716-067** Deforestation in the Porto Velho area, Rondonia,
Brazil.

**STS056-094-021** A five-year comparison of land conversion in the

Brazilian state of Acre. Acre State has been in flux since

the 1900's. It was part of Bolivia until 1900 when it was

ceded to Brazil. The forest in the area contains rubber and

Brazil nut trees and has provided a sustainable source of

income for the locals. Conversion of the land to grazing

has caused strife and even death to people of the region

**Erosional & Depositional Processes \-- S. America and Australia**

***Justin Wilkinson and Joe Caruana***

***Justin***

**STS089-701-22** Río Negro, Amazonia

**STS089-701-19** Junction of Ríos Japurá and Solimoes

**STS089-710-49** Bifurcated headwater, Colombia

**STS089-710-51** Distributary flow, Colombian Amazon

**STS089-742-67** Panorama from Patagonian coast NW to Andes, showing

Desaguadero River, alluvial fan setting, geology of parallel

features, and river sediment promontories. The first of three processes
of lake formation in this region \-- wind

deflation, creation of depressions where hills once existed.

**STS089-701-75** CIR and color-visible views of Lago Musters and Lago

**STS081-724-89** Colhue Huapí. These Patagonian lake basins formed by a

second process: they occupy structurally downdropped

areas flanked by folded strata. CIR emphasizes the wetland

habitat in this desert region.

**STS0-701-073** Lago Argentino formed in response to a third process
\--

the basin was excavated by glacial action. Remains of

moraines extend outward from the lakeshore. (CIR view)

**STS089-742-82** Panorama from lower Río Paraná to Andes (Pie de Palo)

**STS089-742-75** Disaggregated drainage of the Desaguadero River,
swamp-

lands of the Bañados de Atuel, Mendoza, Argentina

**STS089-708-002** Parallel features, La Pampa Province, Argentina

**STS089-742-71** NW Argentina, panorama looking NW up Desaguadero R.

***Joe***

**STS089-742-11** NW Argentina \-- major alluvial fans near Mendoza

**STS089-709-55** The Rio de la Plata is either the widest river in the
world **STS089-703-56** or an estuary. It is 136 miles wide at its
mouth. These photographs show Buenos Aires, Montevideo, the delta of

the Paraná River and the mouth of the Uruguay River. The complex land
forms of the delta are clearly shown.

The drainage basin for this river is 1.6 million sq. mi.

**STS089-710-A** Punta Norte, Argentina; old shorelines, spit accretion.

**STS089-710-38** Salvador, Brazil on Baia do Todo os Santos.

**STS089-710-43** Tamandare Reef Complex, just south of the estuary of
the

Rio Fromoso, Brazil. A thin veneer of reef corals and

calcareous algae has formed along parallel rows of beach

rocks at depths of 0-10 m. Completely unprotected at present, despite
the fact that it includes at least four coral species endemic to Brazil.

**STS089-707-88** Chilean and Argentine highlands, Argentine Lake
District. Fire and ice \-- volcanoes with snow.

**STS089-715-90** Chilean fjords, glacier

**STS089-709-49** Chile, Golfo de Corcovado, Lago Nahuel Huapí in
sunglint. Bariloche ski resorts, land-use change as gringos

(e.g., Ted Turner) purchase large tracts of land. Cholila \-- Butch
Cassidy/Sundance Kid cattle ranch and refuge.

**STS089-715-65** Argentina that looks like West Texas. Oilfields,
mining.

**STS089-716-68** Lake Kariba is a man-made reservoir on the Zambezi
River. Your photograph shows large sediment plumes coming into the lake
that were not present in the STS086 frame in early October of last year.

**STS086-704-112** Lake Kariba, comparative view.

***Justin***

**STS089-742-89** South-central/southeastern Australia. Yorke Peninsula

(Adelaide just out of view), Gulf St. Vincent, Riverina

region, Broken Hill mining district.

**STS089-742-92** SE Australia and Riverina, showing inland deltas of
Murrumbidgee River drainage

**STS089-742-95** All major, recent inland deltas of Australia in one
view

**STS089-717-61** Australian agricultural patterns on sand dunes

**Climatic Processes \--**

**Australian Desert Lakes during El Niño and beyond**

***Julie Robinson***

**STS089-717-036** Gregory Salt Lake, Balgo Mission.

**STS089-717-042** Lake Neal and Lake Amadeus, this mission, January,
1998.

**STS086-715-074** Lake Neal and Lake Amadeus, September, 1997 for
comparison.

**STS089-717-045** Lake Amadeus, this mission, January, 1998.

**STS086-715-077** Lake Amadeus, September, 1997 for comparison.

**STS089-717-056** Northern Lake Torrens, this mission, January, 1998.

**STS086-715-088** Northern Lake Torrens, September, 1997 for
comparison.

**STS089-717-055** Lake Eyre, this mission, January, 1998.

**STS094-748-083** Lake Eyre, July, 1997 for comparison.

[35-mm Lake Eyre time series from 1982/83 El Niño:]{.underline}

**STS008-50-1865** September, 1983, at the end of the El Niño, lakebed

completely dry, dryness lasted through December, 1983.

**STS51A-46-034** Peak floods occurred in mid-January 1984. This photo
was taken much later in dry-down, November, 1984, in the middle of the
post-El Niño year.

**STS61A-487-007** November, 1985, middle of second year after El Niño,
almost dry

**Oceanic/Atmospheric Processes and Islands**

***Sue Runco and Cindy Evans***

**STS089-707-017** The Dampier Archipelago off the coast of NW Australia
is seen in sunglint, which shows the currents as the water interacts
with the shoals. In the following frame (18) there is not sunglint and a
dense mass of *Trichodesmium* plankton is taking the form of the
currents.

**STS089-707-018** A *Trichodesmium* bloom is seen taking the form of
the currents around the Dampier Archipelago off the coast of NW
Australia. *Tricodesmium* is a blue-green filamentous alga which
proliferates in subtropical waters and forms thick algal mats on the
surface. A view in sunglint showing the currents of this area is
STS089-707-017.

The salt ponds in the photo are a major commercial industry of Dampier,
a nearby town on Nickol Bay. This port city takes its name from the
offshore archipelago, named after William Dampier (a British buccaneer
who explored the north and west coasts of Australia in 1688 and 1699).
Just north of the North West Coastal Highway to Perth (1,018 miles
\[1,638 km\] south), Dampier is supplied with fresh water from the
nearby intermittent Maitland River and from a desalinization plant.
Population of Dampier (1981) 2,471.

**STS089-706-065** The South Atlantic waters off Cape Town and Herman,
South Africa are not in sunglint in this image. As a result you can see
the sediments being distributed by the currents. A similar view of this
area in sunglint is STS089-706-067.

**STS089-706-067** The South Atlantic waters off of Cape Town and
Herman, South Africa in sunglint. With the sunglint, you can see
internal waves, internal waves being refracted around a point as the set
reaches shore, and a faint ship's bilge dump. Just by looking at the
internal wave patterns we can guess that the bottom topography is what
is protecting False Bay from the larger waves breaking on shore as seen
in the bays south of Cape Town. To see a similar view of this area not
in sunglint see STS089-706-065.

**STS089-709-072** A north-looking view toward Banks Peninsula, New

([not]{.underline} [shown]{.underline}) Zealand shows a cloud line
perpendicular to the coast on 30 Jan 98 at 211912 GMT. Frame 92 was
taken on 31 Jan 98 at 002832 GMT, 3 hours later. The perpendicular line
moved northward in those 3 hours to the location seen

in roll 705 (below).

**STS089-705-OQ** A line perpendicular to the coast south of Banks
Peninsula, New Zealand. This very visible line is probably caused by a
wind associated with a weather system changing the surface reflectance
for this sun angle. At the north edge of the plankton bloom is the
subtropical convergence zone where subtropical (productive) waters from
the north meet sub-Antarctic (much less productive) waters from the
south. The two currents meet and flow outwards from the shore in a
eastward direction over the Chatham Rise, where water depths decrease
from 2,500 m to 125 m over a relatively short distance. This bathy-
metrically locked feature is seen in many images (including AVHRR) and
marks an area of very productive water, high in phytoplankton.
Communique to S. Runco from Richard Murphy, National Institute of Water
and Atmospheric Research, Wellington, New Zealand.

**STS089-705-OV** An oblique view of Banks Peninsula and a cloud line
perpendicular to the coast with a large plankton bloom in the water.

**STS089-710-063** A northward view of Banks Peninsula and a cloud line
perpendicular to the coast with a large plankton bloom in the water.
Taken on 31 Jan 98 at 002901 GMT

**STS41G-38-055** A wind front in the Ionian Sea in the Mediterranean
(37N 21E) with similar characteristics to those of the feature seen
offshore New Zealand in STS089-705-OQ.

**STS089-703-074** Plankton off Patagonia, Argentina

**STS089-714-010** ([not shown]{.underline})

**through 015**

**STS089-743-039**

**and 040**

**STS089-706-003** Chatham Island (47.5S, 177.5W)

**STS089-743-009** Antipodes Island and plankton (48.9S, 180.0E)

**STS089-743-005** Auckland Islands \-- big sea cliffs (51.2S, 166.8E).
During the

STS-89 mission (1/29/98) there was a report of \~700 rare New Zealand
seal lion pups found dead on the beaches of Dundas Island in the
Auckland Island group. As of this

this writing, results of autopsies conducted by biologists of the New
Zealand Department of Conservation are

not yet known. The animals had not been caught in nets or injured by
trawlers; possible causes of death include a

virus, bacteria, or a toxic algae bloom.

**STS089-717-028** South Georgia Island (54 S, 37 W), glaciers,
reindeer.

**Tectonic Processes \-- New Zealand and Australia**

***Pat Dickerson***

**STS089-709-94** Northward view of all South Island, New Zealand. New
Zealand is on the tectonic plate boundary between the Pacific and the
Indian-Australian plates. The near-vertical Alpine fault zone sharply
defines the plate edge. The coastal zone west of the fault is moving
north (to the right) relative to the alpine country on the opposite
side.

The reddish rock mass near one of the fault splays has

been separated from its counterpart at the north end of

the island (comparative view) by about 480 km.

**STS089-707-64** Mt. Cook is in the upper right of this photo, with
Tasman glacier flowing down its southeast flank. The waters of Lake
Pukaki, which is fed by the Tasman and Murchison glaciers, contain rock
that's been ground to flour-like consistency by the ice; the suspended
rock flour gives the lake its lighter color.

The Southern Alps of South Island have been uplifted along the Alpine
fault. Mt. Cook rises above 11,000 ft (3754 m) and occupies a point
where the straight segment of the Alpine fault zone begins to branch off
into SE splays. Lake Pukaki is in a valley formed by such a fault.

**STS089-707-69** Headwaters of Waimakariri R., Canterbury Plain. The
rate

of erosion of the New Zealand Alps keeps pace with the

rate of uplift \-- both about 10 mm/year. The rising high- lands modify
air- and moisture circulation patterns \--

tectonic influences on climate/weather. The Waimakariri

and Huruni (aircraft view) carry great volumes of coarse sediment to
sea; meanwhile the whole island is being up-

lifted and raised marine terraces line the coast.

**STS089-707-42** The Nullarbor Plain of southern Australia has been one
of the least photographed features of the continents. Your work gives us
new regional and detailed views of this coastline, the escarpment of
which rises abruptly to 500 ft above sea level. In this fine photo of
the entire Australian Bight, solution grooves can be seen to have
localized sand

deposits in long bands. Rounder solution-collapse

features characteristic of karst terrains can also be seen.

**STS089-707-45** The west side of the Eyre Peninsula, at the eastern
end of

the Nullarbor Plain, is shown in beautiful detail here.

Both onshore and along the coast, rounded sinkholes and

depressions attest to solution of the surficial limestones.

Caves are common along the coast and linear passages,

formed by dissolution of joints commonly connect rooms.

**STS089-706-10** Wilson's Promontory into Bass Strait, Melbourne, Port
Phillip Bay, Mt. Kosciusko (7,314 ft) in the Australian Alps

**Extraterrestrial Processes \-- Impact Features**

**Australia, North and South Africa**

***Kim Willis***

**STS089-707-030** One of the oldest impact craters in Australia, Teague
in

Western Australia is approximately 28 km in diameter

and 1685 million years old. The dark, prominent ring is

a syncline that surrounds a central uplift of Archean

crystalline rocks. Shatter cones are present in the dark ring.

**STS089-718-019** This intriguing feature, located in the Sudan near Er

Rosieres reservoir on the Blue Nile (approximately 11.3°N, 34.0° E) has
the appearance of a terrestrial impact

crater. A rough estimate of the crater diameter is between

5 and 10 km, which would classify it as a complex crater.

Although volcanism does occur to the east and south of

this area, this crater appears to be an isolated feature. After

corresponding with Richard Grieve of the Canadian Geo-

logical Survey (the acknowledged terrestrial impact crater

expert), it is his opinion that the crater is of igneous origin.
However, one can never be truly sure until on-

site sampling is conducted. Your photograph created interest and
excitement in the crater community.

**STS089-718-088** The highest probability is that circular features in
Tibesti,

**STS094-710-050** Chad are volcanic in origin. Nonetheless, an impact
crater

**STS031-81-039** to the southwest of Emi Koussi volcano (Aorounga, now
considered to be a multiple impact, after a SRL flight in 1994) was
confirmed in 1992. The area in your photograph

is northwest of Pic Tousside volcano, near the Chad/Libya/

Niger borders. An earlier geologic interpretation of this

region (P. M. Vincent, 1963) identifies the area as contain-

ing "relict circular features in the Precambrian\... believed to

be planed-off granite intrusions". Richard Grieve (personal

communication) also agrees that the circular features are

results of igneous intrusions.

**STS089-705-049** Roter Kamm impact feature in Namibia is 2.5 km in

**STS61C-40-001** diameter and approximately 3.7 million years old. The

crater interior is filled with sand and brecciated country

rock. Impact melt rocks have been found along the rim.

**Tectonic Processes \-- South Africa**

***Pat Dickerson***

**STS089-716-87,95** Orange River, S. Africa. Excellent detailed views
of the

structural controls on the course of the Orange River \--

exactly what Dickerson had requested for her research on

basement-level structural influences on topography. Folds and faults can
be clearly seen here.

**STS089-706-69** Magnificent view of all South Africa, the Cape, Cape
Town, and the intersection of the two mountain belts

**STS089-705-31** South Africa, False Bay \-- intersecting folds and
structures

formed during at least three different deformational events.

**STS089-705-33** South Africa, great northerly folds north of Cape
Town,

including the Cedarburg range of mountains east of the

great north-trending valley.

**STS089-705-42** South Africa, Little Karroo folds (westerly),
tensional cross-fractures that localize drainages off the ranges.

First deformation in the region was Pan-African (between 600 and 500
million years ago). That culminated in emplacement of granite plutons as
young as \~500 million years old. North-trending structures in the
western Cape formed at this time.

The second deformation was during the assembly of the

Gondwana supercontinent (Late Permian-Early Triassic)

about 230 million years ago. The east-striking Cape Fold Belt, including
the Karroo ranges, formed then.

The big north-trending folds of the western Cape \-- the Cedarburg Range
\-- follow ancient north-striking Pan- African structures. Cedarburg and
other northerly folds are earlier than the east-trending folds.

The last gasp of Gondwanan convergence was about 228 million years ago
(Early Triassic); the south ends of some

north-striking structures (e.g., Cedarburg) were refolded.