Earth from Space - Image Description

STS048-151-252 Broad Sound Area, Queensland, Australia September 1991
A large sediment plume (light-colored, water borne material) is flowing northward out of the V-shaped Broad Sound along this section of the northeast coast of Queensland. In addition to the obvious sediment plume from Broad Sound, there appears to be a lighter colored, fainter swath of suspended particles located in the Capricorn Channel midway between the mainland and the Great Barrier Reef (part of which is visible in the lower left corner of the image). Three different groups of islands can be seen along this section of Queensland coastline. From northwest to southeast these island groups are Cumberland Islands, Northumberland Islands and the Percy Islands. The darker landscapes away from the coast are low, forested mountains.

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