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• Credit

  Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

The coastal areas of the Tran-Antarctic Mountains (bottom right) create an interesting optical illusion against the broad white expanse of the Oates (left) and Pennell (right) Coasts of Antarctica. The rugged mountain peaks cast blue shadows on the snow, and in some cases look more like depressions than protrusions. At the top of the image, a floating mosaic of sea ice is adrift in the Southern Ocean. Several large areas of clear water, called polynyas, are visible. On September 12, the sea ice appears much more solid, and the Balleny Islands can be seen in the center of the image. These images were acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite in December 2002. The image from December 2 shows George V Coast (left) and Oates Coast (right).

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• Database Updated: February 25 2008