Earth from Space - Image Description

STS036-076-075 Makran Mountains, Pakistan March 1990
While the collision of the Australian-Indian Tectonic Plate and the Eurasian Plate created the Himalayan Mountains millions of years ago, the land masses on either side of this northward force formed the folded, generally north-south trending Makran, Kirthar, and Sulaiman Ranges along the western border of Pakistan shown in this high-oblique, southwest-viewing photograph. The gently arcing northern Sulaiman Range splits into two separate ranges--the north-south trending Kirthar Range immediately west of the Indus River floodplain and the Makran Range that arcs westward near the coast and extends into southeastern Iran. The Chagai Hills, a smaller east-west trending range separates two sandy western deserts and form the boundary between southern Afghanistan and southwestern Pakistan. A small segment of the Indus River and its broad floodplain are visible along the eastern edge of the photograph.

This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Earth Science & Remote Sensing Unit, ARES Division, Exploration Integration Science Directorate.