MiddleEast : This true-color image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra satellite on February 5, 2003. Against the barren desert of northeastern Africa, the fertile valley of the Nile River runs northward through Egypt and the river widens into its broad fan-shaped delta. Where the Nile empties into the Mediterranean Sea (top) the waters are swirling with color, likely a mixture of sediment, organic matter, and possibly marine plant life. Farther west, the bright blue color of the water is likely less-organically rich sediment, perhaps sand. East of the delta lies the arid Sinai Peninsula, which intrudes into the Red Sea and whose pointed tip is home to rugged mountains, some as high as 8,600 feet. The lattice work of pale lines marks the paths of ephemeral rivers. Between the fertile land along the Mediterranean Sea and the Euphrates River hundreds of miles to the east, the lava fields of the Syrian Desert bake under the sun.