Science / Environment
NASA features astronaut’s view of Utah’s winding river canyons
The October photograph shows entrenched meanders; its November release is not a new geological discovery.
Status: source-checked.
NASA’s Earth Observatory featured a new view of southern Utah’s deeply winding San Juan River on Nov. 6, using a photograph taken by an International Space Station astronaut a month earlier. The Oct. 6 image shows the tight bends known as goosenecks cutting across the desert landscape.
In Goosenecks State Park, the river runs through a canyon about 1,000 feet deep, according to NASA’s accompanying explanation. In one section, the water travels 5.5 miles between points only 1.3 miles apart in a straight line. The image records a long-established landform rather than evidence that the canyons formed recently.
NASA explains that the river once meandered across a comparatively flat plain before uplift of the Colorado Plateau helped it cut downward. The agency describes the timing and mechanics of that uplift as still debated; one explanation links later uplift around 20 million years ago with a steeper river gradient and stronger erosion.
The photograph was made with a Nikon Z9 camera and a 400-millimeter lens by an Expedition 75 crew member. NASA says the released image was cropped, its contrast improved and lens artifacts removed. Those processing steps are disclosed in the image record; this is astronaut photography, not a computer-generated rendering.
NASA’s station-based Earth-observation program makes such imagery available for scientific and public use. The Nov. 6 feature pairs the current orbital view with background on the river’s geology; its publication does not constitute a newly announced study or a measurement of present-day uplift rates.
What we know / what we don't
What we know
- NASA’s Earth Observatory featured a new view of southern Utah’s deeply winding San Juan River on Nov. 6, using a photograph taken by an International Space Station astronaut a month earlier. The Oct. 6 image shows the tight bends known as goosenecks cutting across the desert landscape.
- In Goosenecks State Park, the river runs through a canyon about 1,000 feet deep, according to NASA’s accompanying explanation. In one section, the water travels 5.5 miles between points only 1.3 miles apart in a straight line. The image records a long-established landform rather than evidence that the canyons formed recently.
- NASA explains that the river once meandered across a comparatively flat plain before uplift of the Colorado Plateau helped it cut downward. The agency describes the timing and mechanics of that uplift as still debated; one explanation links later uplift around 20 million years ago with a steeper river gradient and stronger erosion.
- The photograph was made with a Nikon Z9 camera and a 400-millimeter lens by an Expedition 75 crew member. NASA says the released image was cropped, its contrast improved and lens artifacts removed. Those processing steps are disclosed in the image record; this is astronaut photography, not a computer-generated rendering.
- NASA’s station-based Earth-observation program makes such imagery available for scientific and public use. The Nov. 6 feature pairs the current orbital view with background on the river’s geology; its publication does not constitute a newly announced study or a measurement of present-day uplift rates.
What we don't know
- Image-release science feature, not breaking discovery or original new geological research. Geologic interpretation attributed to NASA; the historical papers were not independently re-evaluated.
The source record