Welcome back to another chance to play geographical detective!
This image was taken by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer
(MISR), and represents an area of about 327 kilometers by 375 kilometers. Please note that North is not necessarily at the top of the page. These
questions refer to a country that fills most of the area within the image. Please answer the questions below and tell us where on Earth you think
the location is. You may use any reference materials you like to answer the quiz.
1. Within this country is a picturesque desert, located at the bottom right side of the image. This desert was home to a group of enigmatic, ancient
people, who were known for their skill and resourcefulness. Their capital is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Name the Desert and the given name of the people.
The Rum Desert or Wadi Rum and the
people are the Nabateans.
2. The striking wavy lines that cross the middle of the image are natural geologic features that often carry descriptive names of their
location.
What is the native word used to call and accurately describe these features?
The native word is the Arabic
word for valley or Wadi.
3. The name of the body of water partially shown at the bottom of the image is actually a misnomer. The nearby hills that protect the landscape from
weather pressure fronts, also enable a "rain shadow," thus contributing to the surrounding aridity.
What is the name the body of water?
The body of water is the Dead Sea.
4. At the bottom left of the image, small city developments are visible, of which one city came in to development during the beginning of the 20th
century. It now accounts for 50% of the industrial work of the country.
Name the city.
The city is Zarqa.
5. The striking landscape dominating most of the image is an extension of a much larger, natural feature. This feature is home to a very limited
floristic diversity, and to a number of critical and endangered species, where there are no formally protected areas.
Name this feature.
It is the Arabian Desert.
6. Name the country that fills most of the area in this Image.
It is Jordan.
A new "Where on Earth...?" mystery will appear quarterly. The image also appears on the following NASA websites: NASA Earth Portal, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Climate Change, NASA Earth Observatory and the Atmospheric Sciences Data Center, though typically with a several-hour delay.
Text acknowledgement: Amber
Jenkins and Karen Yuen, JPL.
MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's
Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The MISR
data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center. JPL is a division of the California Institute of
Technology.