Image: Mingachevir Reservoir, Azerbaijan

Description: This detailed astronaut photograph highlights the southern Mingachevir Reservoir in north-central Azerbaijan. Folded layers of relatively young (less than 5. 3 million years old) sedimentary rock, explosive volcanic products (ash and tuff), and unconsolidated sediments form the grey hills along the northern and southern shorelines of the reservoir (image centre and right). Afternoon sun highlights distinctive parallel patterns in the hills that are the result of water and wind erosion of different rock layers exposed at the surface. The nearby city of Mingachevir (left) is split by the Kur River after it passes through the dam and hydroelectric power station complex at image top centre. The reservoir held approximately 15 billion cubic meters of water at the time this image was taken, with a total engineered capacity of 16 billion cubic meters. The width of the reservoir illustrated here is approximately 8 kilometres; a jet flying over the reservoir left a contrail midway between the shorelines.
Title: Mingachevir Reservoir, Azerbaijan
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
Author: ISS Expedition 23 crew
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No