SPACEPHOTOS

The Manuk River enters the view near the upper center of the image and flows generally northward across a gently rolling coastal plain emptying into the Java Sea at the right center of the image. The Manuk rises in the volcanic mountains of central Java and is 75 miles (121 km) long. Forest clearing along the coastal plain and in the mountain lowlands has increased erosion and the sediment flow into the Java Sea. Not only is increased sediment a problem, the increasing use of pesticides and fertilizers, has increased the destruction of coral reefs along Java’s northern coast. Rice is the major crop grown along the coastal plain.