Afar Depression
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Afar Depression (3,952,302 bytes) ( 3,798 x 4,110 ) |
The Afar Depression is a plate tectonic triple junction where the spreading ridges that are forming the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden emerge on land and meet the East African Rift. The Afar Depression is one of two places on Earth where a mid-ocean ridge can be studied on land, the other being Iceland. The Afar is slowly being pulled apart at a rate of 1-2 cm per year. The floor of the Afar Depression is composed mostly of basaltic lava. The Afar Depression and Triple Junction also mark the location of a mantle plume, a great uprising of mantle that melts to yield basalt (like Yellowstone and Hawaii). This image was acquired on March 7, 2002, is located near 12.2 degrees north latitude and 41.9 degrees east longitude, and covers an area of 57 x 61.7 km.
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Afar Depression
Type: (JPG)
Size: (3,952,302 bytes)
Resolution ( 3,798 x 4,110 ) |
Please give credit for these images to:
NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems,
and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
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