Strait of Messina, satellite image. Land is green and water is grey. The Strait of Messina (right) is a narrow channel separating the island of Sicily

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Strait of Messina, satellite image. Land is green and water is grey. The Strait of Messina (right) is a narrow channel separating the island of Sicily (left) from the Italian peninsula (top right). In the strait, strong tidal currents interact with the shallow seabed (the average depth of the Strait is only 80 metres, compared to depths of over 800 metres to the south). Internal wave trains of solitary waves can be generated, and these indirectly show up on the sea surface (lower right). This area is 58 by 90 kilometres. Image acquired on 11 August 2003 by the ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite.

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Size: 3768px × 5160px
Photo credit: © NASA/GSFC/ASTER SCIENCE TEAM/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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