**STS-86 Earth Observations Debrief Captions**

**Justin Wilkinson**

Southern Africa, South America

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| **[Slide         | **[Caption]{.underline}**                         |
| I                |                                                   |
| d]{.underline}** |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Omo River delta, SW Ethiopia, showing extension   |
| *STS086-719-10** | of delta.                                         |
|                  |                                                   |
| **               | Omo River delta, SW Ethiopia, 1984.               |
| STS41B-33-1342** |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| **               | Rufiji R. delta, with Mafia I. and coral reefs,   |
| STS086-728-002** | coastal Tanzania.                                 |
|                  |                                                   |
| *                | Rufiji R. delta, with Mafia I., Tanzania, in      |
| *STS086-728-16** | sunglint.                                         |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Capes Guardafui and Xaafuun, Somalia.             |
| *STS086-728-22** |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Upper Okavango River delta.                       |
| *STS086-722-AG** |                                                   |
|                  | Okavango River delta 1996.                        |
| **NM22-723-083** |                                                   |
|                  | Okavango River delta 1984.                        |
| **S14-31-95**    |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Limpopo River, S. Mozambique, showing ancient     |
| *STS086-702-53** | courses, railway, power lines (from Cahora Bassa  |
|                  | lake, Mozambique to Witwatersrand, South Africa). |
| *                |                                                   |
| *STS086-702-54** |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Lower Umfolozi River, KwaZulu-Natal, South        |
| *STS086-725-62** | Africa---recolonization of early 1970s flood      |
|                  | sands.                                            |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Crater feature, southern Africa                   |
| *STS086-727-82** | (Mozambique/Zimbabwe?).                           |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Cape Fold Mountains, coastal dunes with smoke,    |
| *STS086-724-36** | South Africa.                                     |
|                  |                                                   |
| *                |                                                   |
| *STS086-724-37** |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Dust storm in South AfricaÕs W Cape Province.     |
| *STS086-727-67** |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Betsiboka R delta, NW Madagascar, showing latest  |
| *STS086-701-70** | changes. (CIR)                                    |
|                  |                                                   |
| *                | Betsiboka R delta, NW Madagascar, showing latest  |
| *STS086-722-OD** | changes. (CVIS)                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Smoke patterns above Tamatave, NW coast of        |
| *STS086-717-20** | Madagascar.                                       |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Great bend of the Salado River, NW Argentina,     |
| *STS086-702-78** | showing agricultural patterns.                    |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Central Andes dust, NW Argentina, event #22.      |
| *STS086-723-17** |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | ÒWind- and sand streaksÓ in the central Andes.    |
| *STS086-727-98** |                                                   |
|                  |                                                   |
| *                |                                                   |
| *STS086-727-99** |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Patagonian Òwind- and sand streaksÓ.              |
| *STS086-702-31** |                                                   |
|                  |                                                   |
| *                |                                                   |
| *STS086-702-32** |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Lake Buenos Aires, Southern Andes, S. Argentina.  |
| *STS086-724-14** |                                                   |
|                  |                                                   |
| *                |                                                   |
| *STS086-724-93** |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Lake Argentino, with calving glaciers, S. Andes,  |
| *STS086-728-66** | Argentina.                                        |
|                  |                                                   |
| *                | Lake Viedma, with calving glaciers, S. Andes,     |
| *STS086-728-69** | Argentina.                                        |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

**David L. Amsbury**

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| **               | Upper Betsiboka River drainage, Central           |
| STS086-701-075** | Madagascar. Color Infrared shows where forest and |
|                  | other types of vegetation grow, in contrast to    |
| **               | bare rock and badlands.                           |
| STS086-701-079** |                                                   |
|                  | Central Madagascar. Color infrared film picks out |
|                  | the forest edge above deforested slopes, almost   |
|                  | on a contour line.                                |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| **               | Northern Lake Turkana displaying ancient          |
| STS086-718-008** | shorelines as the lake level fallen, green        |
|                  | vegetation on the Omo Delta, and sediment plumes  |
| **               | in the lake. Central Lake Turkana, showing        |
| STS086-718-010** | well-developed shoreline spits.                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| **               | Desert landscape near Saudi Arabia/North Yemen    |
| STS086-719-035** | border. A dammed-up wadi in the lower part of the |
|                  | scene augments subsurface irrigation along an     |
| **               | alluvial fan far out into the sand dunes. Near    |
| STS086-719-055** | the top of the scene underground drainage         |
|                  | supplies a similar irrigation field.              |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | Rub'Al Khali, southeastern Saudi Arabia. Climate  |
|                  | change is indicated by the meandering canyon in   |
|                  | bedrock, cut by at least frequent flow, in        |
|                  | contrast to the absolutely dry dune field.        |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| **               | The Altiplano of western Argentina. This scene    |
| STS086-723-008** | contains spectacular, multicolored bedrock        |
|                  | geology. Red sediments are eroding and being      |
| **               | transported to the toes of alluvial fans within   |
| STS086-723-025** | closed basins. Active basaltic volcanic cones     |
|                  | pepper the structurally low basin.                |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| **               | Folded range along the eastern edge of the Andes  |
| STS086-723-025** | in west-central Bolivia. Rio Grande o' Guapay.    |
|                  | Sunglint points up the meandering of streams      |
|                  | incised into bedrock; the major stream expands    |
|                  | into a braded pattern as soon as it reaches open  |
|                  | ground.                                           |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

**Pat Dickerson**

Tectonics of New Zealand , Australia

  -------------------- ----------------------------------------------------
  **STS086-705-027**   City of Christchurch and Banks Peninsula, South
                       Island, New Zealand. Banks Peninsula is a drowned
                       volcano that was active about 7 million years ago
                       (Miocene). Where the rim has been breached submerged
                       portions of the old crater provide sheltered
                       harbors, such as Lyttleton and Akaroa, for
                       freighters and other large ships. Waimakariri is one
                       of the great braided rivers that drain the Southern
                       Alps of South Island.

                       

  **STS086-705-029**   Canterbury Plain, spreading out from Christchurch.
                       In this excellent detailed view uplifted shoreline
                       deposits can be seen to line the coast, testifying
                       to ongoing tectonic activity in the region. The
                       Waimakariri and Ashley Rivers carry sediments eroded
                       from the Southern Alps; the rate of erosion keeps
                       pace with the rate of alpine uplift---about 10 mm
                       per year.

                       

  **STS086-723-079**   Mt. Cook and the Southern Alps, South Island, New
                       Zealand. Mt. Cook is the centerpiece of this
                       photograph, 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 has been ground to the consistency of
                       flour by the ice; the suspended rock flour gives the
                       lake its lighter color (cf. Lakes Ohau, Hawea,
                       Wanaka).
  -------------------- ----------------------------------------------------

The Southern Alps of South Island have been uplifted along the Alpine
fault zone, which marks the boundary between the Australian and Pacific
tectonic plates of the EarthÕs crust. 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 southeasterly splays. Lakes Pukaki,
Ohau, Hawea and Wanaka lie in valleys formed by such faults.

  -------------------- ----------------------------------------------------
  **STS086-705-042**   Wellington, North Island, New Zealand. Fine view of
                       southernmost North Island, where the crust of the
                       island is being stretched. The long, straight
                       Wellington fault in the center of the view is
                       seismically active and Lake Wairapa, the larger of
                       the two (Lake Ferry is the smaller), occupies a
                       fault valley. Along the east coast, the crumpled
                       appearance of the ridges results from uplift and
                       piling up of seafloor sediments on the landward side
                       of the Hikurangi trench.

  -------------------- ----------------------------------------------------

  -------------------- ----------------------------------------------------
  **STS086-706-088**   Perth, the state capitol of Western Australia, is
                       the only large city in the state with a population
                       (1990) of more than 800,000. Wheat, cattle, wool,
                       timber, wine, oil and minerals are shipped from the
                       port of Freemantle, downstream from Perth at the
                       mouth of the Swan River estuary. The Swan, like the
                       other streams that head in the Darling uplift, works
                       its way westward through the Darling fault
                       escarpment en route to the Indian Ocean.

                       

  **STS086-706-091**   Southwestern Australia from Perth south to Cape
                       Naturaliste. The Darling Mountain range (elevations
                       to 2,000 ft) constitutes the main topographic
                       prominence. The Darling range is bounded on the west
                       by the north-trending Darling fault, the scarp of
                       which is from 300 to 700 ft. high. On the upthrown
                       east side of the fault, ancient (\>2.5 billion years
                       old) crystalline rocks have been brought to the
                       surface. Similar rocks east of the range host
                       significant gold deposits. The fault separates areas
                       of different substrate, rainfall, vegetation and,
                       thus, different land use. It appears on space
                       photographs as the sharp break between lighter
                       colored grasslands of the plains and the darker
                       forested uplands.

                       

  **STS086-707-004**   Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, just south of the Kenya
                       border. This lofty peak is 19,342 feet high and is
                       one of the volcanoes of the Kenya segment of the
                       eastern East African rift. There is markedly less
                       snow in this view---compare with STS 66-117-062,
                       taken in November 1994.

                       

  **STS066-117-062**   Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. This photo, taken in
                       November 1994, shows the mountain with considerably
                       more snow than seen in the STS 86 view.
  -------------------- ----------------------------------------------------

**Julia Robinson**

Ecology

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Shark Bay Western Australia. Wooramel, The        |
| *STS086-705-15** | worldÕs largest seagrass bed can be seen.         |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Grand RŽcif proposed Marine National Park,        |
| *STS086-713-60** | southwestern Madagascar.                          |
|                  |                                                   |
| *                | Primeras Ilhas reefs off the coast of Mozambique  |
| *STS086-708-99** | and the most important site for dugongs in the    |
|                  | Indian Ocean.                                     |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Nosy BŽ, Nosy Tanikely Marine Reserve,            |
| *STS086-701-81** | Madagascar.                                       |
|                  |                                                   |
| *                | CIR for comparison with CVIS of Madagascar.       |
| *STS086-722-0P** |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| **STS036-80-65** | Comparison of Argentinian Reservoirs at the end   |
|                  | of the Southern Hemisphere summer (March 1990).   |
| *                |                                                   |
| *STS086-713-11** | Embalse Cerros Colorados, Lago Pellegrini and     |
|                  | Embalse El Chocon at a bend in the Limay River,   |
|                  | Argentina. The shot form this mission in October  |
|                  | 1997 is at the end of the Southern Hemisphere     |
|                  | Winter.                                           |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Lake Neale, central Australia.                    |
| *STS086-715-77** |                                                   |
|                  | Lake Amadeus, central Australia.                  |
| *                |                                                   |
| *STS086-715-74** |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Lake Torrens, southern Australia.                 |
| *STS086-715-92** |                                                   |
|                  |                                                   |
| *                |                                                   |
| *STS086-715-88** |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| *                | Lake Torrens to Spencer Gulf, southern Australia. |
| *STS086-715-91** |                                                   |
|                  |                                                   |
| **STS086715-95** |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

**Sue Runco**

Ocean and Weather Phenomena

  --------------------- ---------------------------------------------------
  **STS086-708-047**    Multisize ice flows in marginal ice zone. Cloud
                        streaks forming as wind blows off the ice. These
                        clouds are typical when air is moving from colder
                        land over warmer water.

                        

  **STS086-708-054**    South Sandwich Islands in the marginal ice zone of
                        the ice pack extending from Antarctica. If you look
                        closely you will see three islands. The center more
                        prominent one is Visokoi Island (56.7S 27.2W) with
                        a peak at 3300 feet. North, or toward the edge of
                        the ice pack, is Zavodovski Island (peak elevation
                        1805 ft) and southward is Candlemas Island (peak
                        elevation 1800 ft). In this region the ice edge
                        reaches northward to about 54 deg south in
                        September, when the water temperatures usually
                        reach their coldest temperatures.

                        

  **STS086-708-000A**   Sunglint over the reefs of Ile des Pins (Kunie), to
                        the east, and the Grand Recif Sud of New Caledonia.
                        In the sunglint internal waves are seen traveling
                        northwestward into the Grand Recif Sud. These waves
                        travel subsurface along the density boundary of the
                        mixed layer depth (in this region at this time of
                        year it is probably around 40 to 50 meters deep).

                        

  **STS086-728-002**    Mafia Island off the southern Tanzanian coast. This
                        color view shows the sediment distribution from the
                        Rufiji River and other coastal features such as the
                        boundary of the salty tidal flats and mangrove
                        swamps. The main island in the middle of the reef
                        chain is Songo Songo Island.
  --------------------- ---------------------------------------------------

  -------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  **STS086-711-075**   Ninety Mile Beach, western coast of Aupori Peninsula, the northernmost
                       extension of North Auckland Peninsula, North Island, New Zealand. It
                       stretches for 55 mi. (88 km) from Scott Point (northwest) to Ahipara
                       Bay (southwest) and is bordered by scrubland and sand dunes. In 1643
                       the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman referred to the beach as \"a desert
                       coast.\" Now a resort area, it offers fishing (especially for toheroa,
                       a shellfish delicacy) and automobile racing on the hard-packed strand.
                       Huge waves are crashing into the shores of Ninety mile beach on this
                       day. The large tidal flat area at the river inlets indicate that there
                       is a fairly large tidal range here sometime during the year.

                       

  **STS086-705-036**   Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand. Offshore is the Kaikoura Canyon where
                       the Giant Squid and Sperm Whale live. Sperm Whales, particularly young
                       males, occur throughout the year in inshore waters. This year-round
                       availability of whales supports a rapidly growing whale watch
                       industry. They feed on squid, such as the Giant Squid, and other
                       cephlopods at depths of 400-600 meter and deeper. In Feb. and Mar 1997
                       an expedition, with international participation, occurred in Kaikoura
                       Canyon to study the Giant Squid which lives at depths of 200-700
                       meters (660-2300 ft). One has never been seen in it's natural habitat.
                       They are thought to grow to 18 m (59 ft) and 900 kg (1980 lb., nearly
                       1 ton). To learn more about the Giant Squid and this expedition see
                       web page:
                       http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML/squid_expedition.html

                       

  **STS086-722-058**   Southeast shores of Lake Victoria, in east central Africa. Water
                       Hyacinth have been introduced to the lake and is giving many coastal
                       fishing villages a difficult time for water navigation. There are some
                       green areas along the coastlines in this photo. A scientist working in
                       this area will be able to tell us whether it is water hyacinth or
                       regular coastal vegetation.

                       

  **STS086-701-102**   A marshland lake in southern Zaire is covered with algae.
  -------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| **               | Aldabra Is of the Seychelles (NW of Madagascar).  |
| STS086-724-086** | Assumption Is. (smaller and to the south) has a   |
|                  | runway where researchers can land and travel to   |
|                  | Aldabra. In common with about half the other      |
|                  | islands of Seychelles, the Aldabra Islands are    |
|                  | volcanic in origin. They were created by an       |
|                  | uplift process where part or all of a reef system |
|                  | may become land as a result of crustal movements  |
|                  | raising it above sea level. Mangrove forests are  |
|                  | found on the islands.                             |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | The Aldabras were once rich in guano (deposits    |
|                  | formed from bird droppings), but it was almost    |
|                  | all collected and sold for fertilizer in the      |
|                  | early 1950s. It is now famous for its giant       |
|                  | tortoises, and a nature reserve established in    |
|                  | 1976 completely protects them and other animals.  |
|                  | The Aldabras were designated a World Heritage     |
|                  | Site in 1982. The islands were uninhabited in the |
|                  | late 20th century. Tortoises are found in both    |
|                  | the Old World and the New, but the majority of    |
|                  | the 40-odd living species are confined to Africa  |
|                  | and Madagascar. Of the giant tortoises native to  |
|                  | about 30 islands in the Indian Ocean, all are     |
|                  | extinct except the group native to South Aldabra  |
|                  | Island. Giant tortoises attain very large sizes   |
|                  | relative to most other living turtles. One        |
|                  | captive Galápagos tortoise had a shell length     |
|                  | (measured along the curve) of about 1.3 m (4.25   |
|                  | feet) and a weight of about 140 kg (300 pounds).  |
|                  | Weights of about 180 kg have been recorded for    |
|                  | specimens from Santa Cruz Island.                 |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| **               | Stages of thunderstorms, overshooting tops and    |
| STS086-718-066** | arc clouds. The nadir (12.0S 49.5W) puts this     |
|                  | scene over central Brazil.                        |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| **               | Gravity waves in a capped cumulus cloud field.    |
| STS086-712-002** | Located in the southern Indian Ocean.             |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| **               | Nice example of Jet stream clouds in the Southern |
| STS086-712-004** | Ocean, south of the Indian Ocean.                 |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| **               | Tropical North Atlantic. Golden sunglint with     |
| STS086-723-063** | cloud shadows on the ocean surface with a blue    |
|                  | horizon. The nadir (15.7N 57.8W) puts this scene  |
|                  | east of the Lesser Antilles.                      |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| **               | Sunset colors surrounding an overshooting top     |
| STS086-710-074** | with a long shadow. (no databack information).    |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+