Desert Landscape, Southwestern USA
28 April 2014

Note: The area of coverage in this XSAT image is 19.99 km x 19.99 km.
The reduced resolution image on display has undergone compression and so does not represent the true resolution of the original satellite image.

This XSAT image (with vegetation in red) shows an extremely arid part of the United States, from the northern part of the Death Valley in the southwest of the image to the California-Nevada border immediately beyond its northeastern margin. Several alluvial fans run out from the desolate dissected landscape of Death Valley towards the low ground in the centre. Sand, silt, and evaporated chemical deposits give the low ground a range of colours. The valley floors in the middle have been dissected by a number of channels, currently dry, but the water in the subsurface supports a range of hardy plants. A series of eroded alluvial fans on the far side link the valley floor in the centre with the mountains to the northeast. Bare dissected rocks, scalloped edges of the fans, and long stretches of deserted roads contribute a unique appearance to the landscape.