What look like pale yellow paint streaks slashing through a mosaic of mottled colors are ridges of wind-blown sand that make up Erg Iguidi, an area of ever-shifting sand dunes extending from Algeria into Mauritania in northwestern Africa. Erg Iguidi is one of several Saharan ergs, or sand seas, where individual dunes often surpass 500 meters in both width and height.

This image, taken by Landsat 5 on April 8, 1985, won 4th place in the online “Earth as Art” competition to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Landsat satellite program.

Credit: NASA/GSFC/USGS EROS Data Center

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