Breathtaking Images of Islands, Rivers and Seas from Space

More than 90 miles of the Amazon River reflect the setting sun in this 2008 photo taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.

Blooming microscopic phytoplankton create the swirling blue pattern on the surface of the Black Sea in this image from July 2012.

NASA's Landsat 5 satellite captured this lush image of barrier islands along the northeast coast of Brazil. The nation has 54 barrier islands along 355 miles of Atlantic coast; the islands comprise the world's longest continuous chain of barrier islands.

This is a photo of a salt marsh that leads into the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan. Varying water depth and algae account for the many colors. The image was taken in May 2012 by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.

Lake Erie on the U.S.-Canada border was filled with swirling sediment and algae in March 2012, when NASA's Terra satellite captured this image.

This photo of the northwestern coast of Madagascar shows two estuaries -- regions where fresh river water meets salt water from the ocean.

The Cocos Islands, northwest of Australia in the Indian Ocean, are composed largely of coral atolls. In this image, shallow water above the coral is aquamarine. As the water deepens in the center of the islands, it becomes a dark navy blue.

The Ross Sea in Antarctica is abloom with vibrant life in this image captured by NASA's Aqua satellite in January 2011.

The south end of Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas was photographed by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station in 2002.

Madagascar's Bombetoka Bay joins the Mozambique Channel and the Betsiboka River. In this image from NASA's Terra satellite, the water is deep blue; areas thick with sediment are pink.

The Rio Negro in South America flows southeast from the Andes Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. This shot, taken from the International Space Station in 2010, shows the river's floodplain, which was created by the river's snaking water.

Sandy Cay and Long Island are two islands of the Bahamas located on the Great Bahama Bank. In this photo from 2010, the islands are brown; the off-white and light-green-blue area is sediment beneath shallow water. Sea water is bright blue.

At 49 feet below sea level, Lake Eyre is the lowest point in Australia. The lake rarely fills with water (it has only three times in the last 150 years). Its salt pans -- dry expanses of ground covered by salt and other minerals -- are visible in white in this satellite image from August 2006.

Mataiva Atoll in French Polynesia is part of the Tuamotu Archipelago -- the largest chains of atolls in the world. The center of this atoll is composed of a network of coral ridges visible from space. (Atolls are volcano-formed islands that enclose center lagoons.) An astronaut aboard the International Space Station took this photo in 2010.

Neon green phytoplankton swirls in the waters off Gotland, a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea.

When NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of the Barents Sea northwest of Russia in 2009, the ocean was in the midst of a phytoplankton bloom. The light aqua color shows the calcium carbonate scales found on phytoplankton called cocccolithophores.

Brazil's São Simão Reservoir looks like a watercolor painting in this 2007 photo taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.

Coastal flooding from Tropical Cyclone Gafilo in Madagascar washed bright orange soil from the hillsides into the Betsiboka River in March 2004. The estuary was filled with thick sediment, making for this dramatic shot.

This image shows the intersection of two currents off South America's Atlantic coast. The intersection creates variation in water temperature and salinity and causes sinking and upwelling. Nutrient-rich water is pulled to the surface and acts as a fertilizer for microscopic ocean plants and phytoplankton. Here, chlorophyll concentrations are blue and yellow. 

The Ural River empties into the Northern Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan. This shot of the river's tree-like delta was taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station in August 2004.

In the Bahamas, these intricate, colorful patterns of sand and seaweed beds were created by tides and currents. NASA's Landsat satellite captured the stunning image.

NASA's Terra satellite captured this striking image of the Florida Keys in October 2011.

This image shows sand dunes in the shallow waters of Tarpum Bay, southwest of Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. The dunes result from the erosion of limestone coral reefs. NASA's Terra satellite captured the image in May 2002.