More than 3000 kilometres from any continent, Amsterdam Island pokes out from the southern Indian Ocean at a point between Africa, Australia, and Antarctica

More than 3000 kilometres from any continent, Amsterdam Island pokes out from the southern Indian Ocean at a point between Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.

The product of a basaltic volcano that was last active about 200 000 to 400 000 years ago, the tiny elliptical island reaches an elevation of 867 metres at its highest peak.

As shown by this natural-colour satellite image, that peak was high enough to disrupt the clouds flowing around it. The image was acquired by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 on 2 November 2014. It features mountain-wave clouds flowing in a southeasterly direction on the lee side of Amsterdam Island. Part of the island is visible on the far left of the image.

Attribution: Landsat

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