@nasaearth

Every year, the Lena River moves over 20 million metric tons of suspended sediment into the Laptev Sea. Some of that suspended sediment is visible flowing from beneath an ice shelf at the top right of this image. The permafrost is pockmarked in the northwestern part of the delta. The older, drier part of the delta is composed of alluvial and marine sediments covered with moss and lichens, which appear lighter brown in this image. The area is covered with lakes and depressions that formed when permafrost or buried ice melted and caused the sandy soils to subside. Off the northwest coast of the delta in the Laptev Sea, the Dunay Islands are encased in fast ice – ice that is anchored to the shore or sea floor. 🧊 This image was taken by the OLI-2 instrument on the joint NASA and USGS Landsat 9 satellite on June 17, 2022.