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Where is it?The Betsiboka River , Madagascar [ -15.920729 , 46.367102 ] .
What ’s in the photo?An intricate , rusting - color waterway shaped by mangrove islands .
Madagascar’s Betsiboka River is often stained a rusty orange by iron-rich soils. The discolored waterway gets split into complex branches by a series lemon-shaped mangrove islands.
Who take the photo?An unnamed spaceman onboard the International Space Station .
When was it taken?June 29 , 2018 .
This salient astronaut photo shows the vivid vividness and intricate shape of Madagascar ’s Betsiboka River as it meanders through an archipelago of mangrove island that have helped to stabilize and remold the waterway as destructive human practices push it to the verge of collapse .
From the ground, the The Betsiboka River has a striking orange hue.
The Betsiboka stretches around 326 miles ( 525 kilometers ) from one of Madagascar ’s central highlands to Bombetoka Bay on the island nation ’s northwesterly coast . As it go up the sea , the river splits apart , forming a connection of plait waterways , known as a delta , as the discolored water is divert around a serial of small islands .
These lemon - shaped islands are made of sediment held together by the deep intertangled roots of mangrove trees . Some of the larger islands have seeable erosion feature near their center where water has trickled through the refractory trees , consort toNASA ’s Earth Observatory . Without the roots , the islands would be quickly washed away by the river , which could destabilise the surrounding ecosystem .
The Betsiboka delta is often referred to topically as the " red land " due to the coloured orange hues of the flowing water . This outstanding colour is the result of heavy spotting from soil rich in rust fungus - like iron oxides , recognise as laterite , according toNASA ’s Earth Observatory .
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The color of the Betsiboka naturally deepen when weighty rains from tropical storms launder more laterite from the surrounding land , according to Europe’sCopernicus program . However , human activity is also changing the river .
Since 1950 , around 40 % of Madagascar ’s forest cover has been destroyed by wildfire , agricultural graze and " slash and burn " clearances , grant to NASA ’s Earth Observatory . As a final result , the Betsiboka now runs across more unstable ground , making it well-situated for more sediment to be sweep forth by the river .
A 2010 work using 30 years of Landsat planet data between 1973 and 2003 exhibit that this increased erosion hasmade the river importantly darker .
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The loss of wood has also increased the flow charge per unit of the river because rainwater more easily drains into the watercourse , which is assign more melodic line on the Rhizophora mangle island in the delta .
The changes to the Betsiboka are bear upon local masses who swear on the river for drinking water , bathing , laundry and agriculture , according to Madagascan news siteMada Magazine .
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