SPACEPHOTOS

Sredinnyy Khrebet, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. The Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia is shown in this scene created from a preliminary elevation model derived from the first data collected during the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) on February 12, 2000. Sredinnyy Khrebet, the mountain range that makes up the spine of the peninsula, is a chain of active volcanic peaks. Pleistocene and recent glaciers have carved the broad valleys and jagged ridges that are common here. The relative youth of the volcanism is revealed by the topography as infilling and smoothing of the otherwise rugged terrain by lava, ash, and pyroclastic flows, particularly surrounding the high peaks in the south central part of the image. Elevations here range from near sea level up to 2,618 meters (8,590 feet).