Central Asia’s Tibetan Plateau is justifiably nicknamed “the roof of the world” – its average elevation is more than 4,500 meters. It is the world’s highest and largest plateau, covering an area roughly four times the size of the U.S. state of Texas. Tectonic forces have long shaped the Tibetan Plateau’s crumpled and uplifted mountain ridges. This scene also features some of the area’s deep, glacier-fed lakes; the two largest lakes are Migriggyangzham near the upper left and Dorsoidong just below it.

Image taken September 17, 2007, by Landsat 5.

Credit: NASA/GSFC/USGS EROS Data Center

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