December 24, 2022 - Manicouagan Reservoir

Manicouagan Reservoir
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On December 12, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of
snow surrounding Manicouagan Reservoir in southeastern Quebec, Canada.

This strikingly circular lake is the most important reservoir of the
Manicouagan Hydroelectric Complex. The reservoir itself was created in
the 1960s when the Daniel-Johnson dam was completed, flooding two
arched lakes that were previously present. The rising floodwaters also
created a new island on a high plateau between the lakes.

While the reservoir is relatively new, it has been built on a truly
ancient foundation—one of the Earth’s largest and oldest impact
craters. Manicouagan Crater was formed 214 million years ago, near the
end of the Triassic Period, when an asteroid 5 kilometers (3 miles)
wide struck what is now Canada. The asteroid's impact not only created
a rounded impact crater, but the massive power of the impact shattered
rock and debris, causing it to uplift in the center of the crater. This
uplifted area is now the Ile Rene-Levasseur. The highest point on the
island, Mount Babel, rises about 1,970 feet (600 meters) above the lake
level on its northern end.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 12/15/2022
Resolutions: 1km (337.3 KB), 500m (937.9 KB), 250m (739.4
KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-12-24

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