View of portion of South Island, New Zealand as seen from Skylab

SL4-137-3700 (22 Dec. 1973) --- A near vertical view of a portion of South Island, New Zealand, as see from the Skylab space station in Earth orbit. This picture was taken by one of the Skylab 4 crew members with a handheld 70mm Hasselblad camera using a 100mm lens. The picture should be held with the largest body of water (Tasman Sea) on the left. Cape Foulwind is at the upper left. The City of Christchurch is under clouds at the center right margin. Note the movement of sediment by alongshore currents, especially on the east (right) side of the island. The Alpine Fault, which is part of the circum-Pacific volcanic-tectonic belt, is clearly visible on the left (west) side of the island. The fault line is marked by a scarp, which appears very distinct from orbital altitude. Differences in topography and vegetation on either side of the fault are also sharp. Streams change direction at the fault line, and the change in slope at the fault line is evident in the widening of stream channels. The left side of the fault has moved northeast (upward) relative to the right side; some stream offsets indicate the direction of relative movement, but others are controlled by local topography. T

Date

1973-12-22

Collection

JSC

Archive

NASA Image and Video Library

Type

photograph

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