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Earth from Space 2001 Calendar

This image shows an area of diamond deposits in South Africa and Namibia. The image covers part of the Richtersveld National Park and Orange River in South Africa, including diamond mines located near the Kimberly diamond field. The Orange River forms the boundary between South Africa (to the south) and Namibia (to the north). The mines are seen as yellow areas on the southern bank of the river. Diamonds were washed from the hills above by a former channel of the river millions of years ago. The large dark area in the center of the image is the Kubus Pluton, which is a body of granite rock. The image was obtained by SIR-C/X-SAR on the Space Shuttle Endeavour on April 18, 1994 and shows an area about 55 km (34 mi) on a side.