General Information Product 161

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Landsat 8 is the latest addition to the long-running series of 

Earth-observing satellites in the Landsat program that began 

in 1972. The images featured in this fourth installment of the 

Earth As Art collection were all acquired by Landsat 8. They 

show our planet’s diverse landscapes with remarkable clarity.

Landsat satellites see the Earth as no human can. Not only 

do they acquire images from the vantage point of space, but 

their sensors record infrared as well as visible wavelengths 

of light. The resulting images often reveal “hidden” details 

of the Earth’s land surface, making them invaluable for 

scientific research.

As with previous Earth As Art exhibits, these Landsat images 

were selected solely for their aesthetic appeal. Many of the 

images have been manipulated to enhance color variations or 

details. They are not intended for scientific interpretation—

only for your viewing pleasure. What do you see in these 

unique glimpses of the Earth’s continents, islands, and 

coastlines?
Africa

Eerie Cloud Shadows

These cloud patterns cast eerie shadows on the landscape 

of southern Egypt. The clouds appear red and the desert 

below hazy blue in this infrared rendition.

Earth Selfie

The tendency to recognize human faces in things that 

are not human is common. Can you see the eye, nose, 

and mouth in this satellite image of Morocco? The face 

captured in this “Earth Selfie” appears to be quietly 

watching over the waters just off its coast. The city of Agadir 

is underneath the chin, and the irrigated farms of the Souss Valley 

appear in red.
Geometric Desert

Geometric shapes lie across the emptiness of the Sahara 

Desert in southern Egypt. Each point is a center pivot 

irrigation field a little less than 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) 

across. With no surface water in this region, wells pump 

underground water to rotating sprinklers from the huge Nubian 

Sandstone aquifer, which lies underneath the desert.

The Lorian Swamp

Water flowing out of this inland delta rarely reaches 

the ocean; instead, it seeps into the semiarid plains of 

northeastern Kenya. The dark feature in the upper left, 

which looks like a black eye, is hard basaltic rock from an 

ancient lava flow.
A Study in Color

The deep purple in the lower right spreads out into a few 

channels before fading into a multitude of colors. These 

channels are remnants of an ancient drainage network in 

Kenya. The beauty of the colors actually hides a stark reality 

for hundreds of thousands of people. The dark spots at the top 

center of the image are refugee camps.

Land of Terror

No water. No vegetation. No oases. Known as the “Land of 

Terror,” the Tanezrouft Basin in Algeria is one of the most 

desolate parts of the Sahara Desert. Sand dunes, which 

appear in yellow, streak down the left side of the image, and 

sandstone formations carved by relentless wind erosion make 

concentric loops, much like the grain seen in a piece of wood.
Life along the Nile

It is easy to see from this image why people have been 

drawn to the Nile River in Egypt for thousands of years. 

Green farmland marks a distinct boundary between the 

Nile floodplain and the surrounding harsh desert. 

Mulanje Massif

In southern Malawi, the erosion-resistant rock of Mulanje 

Massif, a large mountain mass, rises dramatically above 

the landscape near Lake Chilwa, a shallow, saline lake. The 

upper slopes of the massif are protected forest. The deep 

green color south of the massif is tea and macadamia farms.
Lava Field

The Haruj Volcanic Field in central Libya was created 

from basaltic lava flows that erupted over time from 

multiple volcanoes. The volcanic craters and lava flows 

are evidence of a previous active eruption period. Many 

of the bright spots within the darker colored basalt flows 

are depressions covered with silt and fine sand. The lava field 

measures about 185 kilometers (115 miles) across.

Antarctica

Slessor Glacier

Slessor Glacier in Antarctica flows between the angular 

promontory Parry Point on the top left of the image and the 

Shackleton Range on the lower right. The purple highlights 

are exposed ice. Strong winds blow away the snow cover 

and expose lines that indicate the glacier flow direction. Rock 

outcrops next to the glacier also exhibit some of this bare ice.
Koettlitz Glacier

Landsat 8 helps reveal the hidden complexities of the 

Antarctic landscape. In this image, ice takes on different 

levels of blue with exposed rock and dirt appearing in 

yellow tones. The dynamic Koettlitz Glacier flows between 

Brown Peninsula and the rugged mainland.

Asia

Cubism—Landsat Style

Startling red patches sprout from an agricultural landscape 

that looks almost like a Cubist painting. The fields in this 

part of eastern Kazakhstan follow the contours of the 

land—long and narrow in mountain valleys, and large and 

rectangular over the plains.
Ink Stain

Like blue ink bleeding onto parchment, the Khor Kalmat 

lagoon branches off the Arabian Sea and spills into the 

southern Pakistan landscape near the Makran Coast 

Range. Mudflats cover almost the entire lagoon, which fills 

with shallow water at high tides. The small areas of green 

are isolated pockets of mangrove forest.

Etched in Snow

Is this a black-and-white image? No, this is a natural color 

image of snow-covered southwestern Russia. Windbreaks, 

roads, and fence lines look like random pencil marks near 

the Volga River, which flows across the top of the image. The 

thick lines are trees planted to protect fields from dry wind and 

erosion; these windbreaks retain snow, allowing more moisture 

to penetrate into the soil.
Wind Power

A bold paint stroke on a busy purple canvas is actually part 

of the Dasht-e Lut Desert in southeastern Iran. The linear 

features are kaluts, huge rocky formations shaped by wind 

erosion. The streamlined forms vary in size, but some kaluts 

stretch more than 100 kilometers (62 miles).

Salt Glaciers

The patterns and colors in the Zagros Mountains of Iran are 

interesting enough. For example, the infrared view provides 

a patina-like outline to the mountains. But something 

more happened to this unique landscape. Interrupting 

the mountain patterns are irregular dark patches called salt 

glaciers. What began as salt domes buried under the rock pushed 

up through the Earth, squeezing to the surface like toothpaste. 
Sloppy Paint Job

What appear to be smatterings of paint on a wall represent 

an amalgam of human-made and natural features in 

southwestern Iran. The dark red shape in the center of the 

image is Shadegan Pond, which is the northern part of the 

larger Shadegan Wetlands. Red areas depict actively growing 

vegetation, and the rectangular shapes in the upper left reveal 

irrigated farmland.

Faults

When landmasses collide, rock layers can break. 

Geologists call these breaks “faults.” Rock layers are 

offset in this image in western China, making the faults 

remarkably clear. The different colors indicate rocks that 

formed at different times and in different environments.
Australia

Mount Taranaki

A nearly perfect circle of forest delineates the boundary 

of Egmont National Park in New Zealand. Snow-capped 

Mount Taranaki marks the center of the park, which is 

surrounded by green farmland. 

Melted Colors

This enhanced image of Western Australia resembles a 

mixture of crayons that melted in the sun. The yellow sand 

dunes of the Great Sandy Desert cover the upper right 

portion of the image. Red splotches indicate burned areas 

from grass and forest fires, and the colors in the rest of the 

image depict different types of surface geology.
Australian Iron Ore

Within the Hamersley Iron Province in Western Australia, 

Landsat’s shortwave infrared and near-infrared detectors 

highlight different types of rock. The oval in the upper 

center part of the image is a geological feature called 

Rocklea Dome. The dark meanders within the dome are 

channel iron deposits.

Nature’s Patterns

The biologically complex conditions of mangroves are 

shown in dark green along the fingers of the Ord River 

in Australia. Yellow, orange, and blue represent the 

impressive flow patterns of sediment and nutrients in this 

tropical estuary. The bright spot at the lower left is an area of 

mudflats, which is home to saltwater crocodiles.
Europe

Putrid Sea

Varied types of microalgae flourish in this colorful network 

of shallow, salty lagoons at the neck of the Crimean 

Peninsula between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. This 

natural color image portrays the unnaturally strange colors 

of the area known as Sivash, which is nicknamed the “putrid 

sea” because the algae in some of the lagoons produce a rotten smell.

North America

Cellular Ice

The ice surrounding the northern Canadian Spicer Islands, 

shown in bright red, resembles a cell, complete with 

ribosomes, mitochondria, and a nucleus. Even though the 

image was captured shortly after the first day of summer in 

the Northern Hemisphere, the islands are locked in ice. 
Earth’s Aquarium

These green and blue swirls in the Bering Sea reveal 

the bottom of the food chain in the ocean. Microscopic 

organisms called phytoplankton, which are important to 

fish populations, may be too small to be seen individually, 

but in vast numbers they are visible from space. The white 

clouds in the image look like bubbles in an aquarium.

Mexico’s Biosphere

Much of this image consists of the Reserva de la Biosfera 

Pantanos de Centla, a biosphere reserve in southern 

Mexico that protects wetlands in the area. The water 

bodies, mangroves, and forests are a sanctuary for a great 

variety of wildlife. Sediment carried away by the Grijalva River 

appears as a sweeping light blue brushstroke flowing into the Gulf 

of Mexico at the top of the image.
Cloud Lightning

What looks like lightning arcing through an ominous cloud 

is actually a dry landscape of rocky buttes in southern Utah 

and northeastern Arizona. River channels flow north from 

Arizona into the San Juan River. The light vertical feature at 

the top of the image is referred to as Comb Ridge, a jagged fold 

in the Earth’s crust called a monocline. 

Petermann Glacier

Located on the northwestern coast of Greenland, 

Petermann Glacier covers 1,295 square kilometers (500 

square miles). The glacier’s floating tongue of ice extends 

from the lower right corner of the image toward the top 

center. At 15–20 kilometers (9–12 miles) wide and 70 kilometers 

(43 miles) long, it is the longest floating glacier in the Northern 

Hemisphere. Infrared wavelengths reveal bare ground shown in 

red-brown tones in this summer image.
Scorpion Reef

Is this a tiny creature on a microscope slide? No, but 

you are close. This is an image of a structure built by 

a multitude of small creatures. At about 21 kilometers 

(13 miles) wide, this feature is the largest coral structure 

in the southern Gulf of Mexico. The Arrecife Alacranes—or 

Scorpion Reef—supports wide biological diversity and is home to 

several endangered species.

Contrails

Like scratches on a marble table, airplane contrails 

cut across the southern California Mojave Desert. The 

shadows from the contrails cast dark lines across the 

ground. Contrails form when cold, dry air mixes with warmer 

aircraft exhaust. Mountains and a few dry lakebeds provide a 

backdrop to this scene, along with bright green spots of agriculture 

along the Colorado River. 
Rock Folding 

This Landsat image shows how glaciers scoured the 

landscape, gouging out depressions that formed linear 

lakes. The glaciers also exposed the complex folded rock 

layers that form the Labrador Trough of Quebec in Canada. 

Glacial action is evident in the fingerprint-like patterns.

Canyonlands 

The Green River and the Colorado River meet within 

Canyonlands National Park in Utah. Snow-covered Mount 

Waas, shown in light blue on the right side of the image, 

overlooks the arches, canyons, and bizarre rock formations 

that prevail throughout this region.
River and Ridge

The Susquehanna River appears as a dark line coursing 

through this scene in southeastern Pennsylvania. 

The cities of York, Lancaster, and Reading lie among 

agricultural lands. The State capital, Harrisburg, is 

positioned against the orange folds in the upper left of the 

image, along the edge of the Appalachian Mountain Ridge and 

Valley Province.

Eye of Quebec

Lake Manicouagan, Canada, is one of the Earth’s 

largest and oldest known impact craters. The crater is 

65 kilometers (40 miles) wide and is estimated to be about 

214 million years old. The lake and island are clearly seen 

from space and are sometimes called the “Eye of Quebec.”
South America

Oxbows in Bolivia

The Beni River in Bolivia resembles a blue ribbon as it 

meanders toward the Amazon River. Scattered along the 

river are numerous oxbow lakes, which are curved bodies 

of water that form when a meander from the main stem of 

a river is cut off, creating a freestanding body of water. Dark 

green colors in the image indicate forest and lighter green shades 

indicate grassland or sparse forest.

Capillaries

Marking part of the boundary between Colombia and 

Venezuela, the Meta River resembles an artery among 

capillaries within the human body. Those capillarylike features actually depict dense tree cover along the 

numerous streams that flow among rich tropical grassland.
Tessera Mosaic

The Tietê River snakes across this tessera mosaic of 

multicolored shapes near Ibitinga, Brazil. Fields of 

sugarcane, peanuts, and corn vary in their stages of 

development. Lavender, purple, and bright blue indicate 

actively growing crops. Light yellow or white indicate little or 

no vegetation growth. The splotches of dark mustard yellow are 

urban areas.

For more information contact:

U.S. Geological Survey 

Earth Resources Observation 

and Science (EROS) Center 

47914 252nd Street 

Sioux Falls, SD 57198–0001

ISSN 2332-3531 (print)

ISSN 2332-354X (online)

http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/gip161

Phone: 1–800–252–4547

1–888–ASK–USGS

Email: custserv@usgs.gov

Web: www.usgs.gov

eros.usgs.gov/imagegallery