The northwest coast of the Yucatán Peninsula

Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features the wetlands along the northwest coast of the Yucatán Peninsula.

“This photograph, taken from the International Space Station (ISS), captures the diversity of the estuarian landscape near Celestún, a fishing village in Yucatán, Mexico,” reports NASA.

“Dark green mangrove forests surround Ria Celestún and are interwoven between smaller estuaries reaching toward the Gulf of Mexico. The ebb and flow of ocean currents suspends and resuspends sediments here, giving the shallow, brackish estuaries hues of orange and reddish-brown.”

Cenotes are sinkholes that form from the collapse of limestone bedrock. According to NASA, the porous limestone sinkholes filter salt out of seawater, creating reservoirs that have been used as freshwater resources since the Mayan Civilization.

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory 

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer