SPACEPHOTOS

Sierra de Almenara, Spain October 1993 The coast southwest of Cartagena consists of rugged mountainous terrain (darker landscape) and agricultural valleys and plains (lighter-colored features). The Sierra de Almenara is identifiable as the mountain range with a gradual curve in the alignment that is adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea. The angular-looking field patterns (light and dark areas) on the coastal side of the mountains show an altered man made landscape, created by surface mining operations. Immediately inland from these mountains, a northeast-southwest trending corridor (valley) extends diagonally across the image. The winding channel (light-colored, linear feature) of the Almanzora River, interrupted by an elongated reservoir (dark surface), can be traced across this semiarid region of southeast Spain, as the river eventually empties into the Mediterranean Sea. Surface dynamics (color contrasts) are seen in the near coastal waters of the Mediterranean Sea (upper middle).