Andes Altiplano, South America. NASA public domain image colelction.

STS043-151-159 (2-11 August 1991) --- This photograph looks westward over the high plateau of the southern Peruvian Andes west and north of Lake Titicaca (not in field of view). Lima, Peru lies under the clouds just north of the clear coastal area. Because the high Andes have been uplifted 10,000 to 13,000 feet during the past 20 million years, the rivers which cut down to the Pacific Ocean have gorges almost that deep, such as the Rio Ocona at the bottom of the photograph. The eastern slopes of the Andes are heavily forested, forming the headwaters of the Amazon system. Smoke from burning in the Amazon basin fills river valleys on the right side of the photograph. A Linhof camera was used to take this view.

andes mountains south america deforestation deserts forest fires smoke earth observations from space forests mountains rain forests rivers south america sts 43 johnson space center andes altiplano andes altiplano high resolution peruvian andes west view river valleys amazon system amazon basin south america lake titicaca million years rivers pacific ocean rio ocona right side linhof camera nasa

11/08/1991

NASA

https://images.nasa.gov/

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