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  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS035-E-18006 Date: Apr. 2013
Geographic Region: BOLIVIA
Feature: TATA SABAYA VOLCANO, DEBRIS AVALANCHE, SALAR DE COIPASA

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  Tata Sabaya Volcano, Bolivia

Tata Sabaya, a stratovolcano located in the Altiplano region of Bolivia, rises to a summit elevation of 5430 meters above sea level. While its current form is that of a youthful stratovolcano, the regional geological evidence indicates an older, eventful history. Prior to approximately 12,000 years ago (during the late Pleistocene Epoch) a large debris avalanche was formed by collapse of the ancestral Tata Sabaya volcano. Debris from the avalanche swept into the nearby Salar de Coipasa -at that time filled with a lake larger than today - significantly changing its northwestern coastline. Timing of the event is obtained from tufa deposits formed on debris islands during a high stand of the Coipasa lake - illustrating the geological principle of cross-cutting relationships, in that the debris avalanche had to have occurred before the tufa deposits were formed in the lake.

The Tata Sabaya stratovolcano is located at image center in this astronaut photograph from the International Space Station. Several young lava flows are visible on the northwestern and western flanks of the volcano. Peaks visible to the northeast and southwest appear to be volcanoes as well, but unlike Tata Sabaya there is no record of recent activity from either of them (according to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's Global Volcanism Program). As the climate of the Altiplano became more arid and the Coipasa Lake shrank, much of the hummocky terrain of the debris avalanche became exposed over an area of more than 300 square kilometers. The hummocky terrain is clearly visible at image right. White salt deposits of the salar surround many of the individual hummocks, making them "islands" once again.
 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 231k
Mission: ISS035  
Roll - Frame: E - 18006
Geographical Name: BOLIVIA  
Features: TATA SABAYA VOLCANO, DEBRIS AVALANCHE, SALAR DE COIPASA  
Center Lat x Lon: 19.1S x 68.5W
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: N5
 
Camera Tilt: 10   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 400  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: SW   The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
Stereo?:   Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
Orbit Number:  
 
Date: 20130408   YYYYMMDD
Time: 203027   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 18.8S  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 67.9W  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 289   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 226   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 26   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: SALAR, VOLCANO  
Water Views: LAKE  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


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