Kazakhstan
Agriculture and Mining
High-resolution
image (2.1 Mb)
Agricultural
activities and mining occur side by side in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The scene is located in the Turgayskaya Oblast of central Kazakhstan,
near the provincial capital of Arkalyk, where Russian spacecraft
landings occur. The large, mostly square fields are probably spring
wheat, one of the cereal grains that grow well in the cold, dry
climate. The colorful, irregular patterns on the left side of the
image appear to be surface-mining operations where water has accumulated
to form small lakes. Bauxite and asbestos are the principal minerals
extracted in this region.
Astronaut photograph
STS112-E-6013
provided by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory at
Johnson Space Center. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA-JSC Gateway
to Astronaut Photography of Earth.
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