Satellite Views of the Susquehanna

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The Susquehanna River cuts through the folds of the Valley-and-Ridge province of the Appalachian Mountains.

Credits


Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with the NASA Earth Observatory: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov.

  • NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using data from the Level 1 and Atmospheres Active Distribution System (LAADS) and Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE). 
  • Astronaut photograph ISS061-E-98033 provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. 
  • Image of the Day story by  Laura Phoebus, Jacobs, JETS Contract at NASA-JSC:  https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146570/rolling-through-the-appalachians 
  • Adaptation of text and images to ViewSpace by Margaret W. Carruthers and Dani Player 
  • Music from Music for Nonprofits

Transcript


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Text, Earth Watch. Exploring the Blue Planet by Satellite
 
Satellite Views of the Susquehanna. Earth Observatory. earth observatory dot nasa dot gov
 
November 6, 2019. The Susquehanna River flows more than 700 kilometers from upstate New York to Maryland, draining into the Chesapeake Bay.
 
The river's watershed covers more than 70,000 square kilometers and is the source of more than half of the fresh water in the Bay.
 
December 24, 2019. This photograph from an astronaut aboard the International Space Station shows a portion of the Susquehanna near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
 
Here the river cuts through folded rocks of the Valley-and-Ridge province of the Appalachian Mountains.
 
The ridges are composed of sandstone and conglomerate, which are relatively resistant to erosion.
 
The valleys are underlain by limestone and shale, which are softer and more susceptible to erosion.
 
Farms that now occupy the valleys are a mainstay of Pennsylvania's economy.
 
However, they are also a source of nutrient and sediment pollution carried by the Susquehanna into the Chesapeake Bay.
 
To learn more, go to: earthobservatory dot nasa dot gov.