Shikotan island seen from space - Shikotan island seen from space - Shikotan island (Shikotan)...

Shikotan island seen from space - Shikotan island seen from space - Shikotan island (Shikotan) is one of the largest islands of the Kuril archipelago, located in the Pacific Ocean between the Kamchatka Peninsula and northern Japan. In this image obtained by the EO-1 satellite on 14 February 2011, this volcanic island is surrounded by ice forming spirals in the wind. Ostrov Shikotan (or Shikotan - to) is a volcanic island at the southern end of the Kuril chain. Shikotan lies along the extreme southern edge of winter sea ice in the Northern Hemisphere. The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA's Earth Observing - 1 (EO - 1) satellite captured this natural - color image of Shikotan on February 14, 2011. The island is surrounded by sea ice - - swirling shapes of ghostly blue - gray. The ice in this image may have formed in a matter of several days, and it is prone to moving with currents. North of the western end of Shikotan, eddies have shaped the ice into rough circles. The eddies may result from opposing winds - - winds from the north pushing the ice southward, and winds from the southwest pushing the ice towards the northeast. Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the island is seismically active