Sediment Plumes, Coastal South Sulawesi, Indonesia
20 May 2011

Note: The area of coverage in this WORLDVIEW-2 image is approximately 4 km x 4 km.
The reduced resolution image on display has undergone compression and so does not represent the true resolution of the original satellite image.

The Muara Karama River flows past Silendeng on the west coast of south Sulawesi, releasing huge sediment plumes into the Makassar Strait. The orange-coloured sediment-laden water of the river diffuses into the dark-blue sea water with a series of plumes visible at different depths. A set of step-like features has formed in the coastal waters at the centre, presumably due to the very high sediment concentration. Sediment concentration varies across the area of the plumes. For example, the location of a small island with steep sides at the mouth of the river has resulted in elongated deposition of sediment in its lee and a stretch of water with little sediment beyond. Water with higher sediment flux flows round the island and a near-complete diffusion is achieved after a distance of several hundred metres. Land use on the straight coast shows a conversion of swamp vegetation to aquaculture. It is likely that the high sediment release to the coastal waters is due both to changes in land use and the high relief of this tectonic and mountainous island.