NASA MODIS Image of the Day: November 22, 2010 – Iceland
On a relatively cloud-free day in mid-November, a white blanket of ice and snow cover the lava fields, cold deserts and tundra that dominate the landscape of Iceland.
The southwestern, low-lying coastlines are light tan in color, indicating they have little green vegetation, and they remain snow-free prior to the onset of winter.
Low layers of clouds float over the Atlantic Ocean as well as the southeastern coastal regions. This true-color image was captured on November 14, 2010 by the Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite as it passed over the region. Exactly forty-seven years before, on November 14, 1963, an Icelandic fisherman noticed a plume of smoke rising from the open water. Within a day, a new volcanic island had formed off the southern coast of Iceland. Two years later vegetation grew on the island and it began to attract migratory birds and seals. By 1967, the eruption was complete, leaving a 2.7 square kilometer (1.04 square mile) island. Since that time, wind, waves and rain have eroded the island, leaving only about one-half of the original land mass remaining. This island, named Surtsey, is located at the center of the lower edge of this image, hidden under a bank of clouds. It is the southernmost point of Iceland.
