The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (29 April 2014)

New Features: http://earthobservatory nasa gov/Features/

• Exploring America's National Parks http://earthobservatory nasa gov/Features/Gallery/parks php?src=eoa-features The United States has set aside nearly 84 million acres of historic and scenic land in its national parks system In celebration of National Park Week, here are satellite views of a dozen of those national treasures

Latest Images: http://earthobservatory nasa gov/IOTD/

• Plankton and Sulfur in the Benguela Current http://earthobservatory nasa gov/IOTD/view php?id=83571&src=eoa-iotd

• Clues for a Martian Landscape http://earthobservatory nasa gov/IOTD/view php?id=83549&src=eoa-iotd

• Ice in the Sea of Okhotsk http://earthobservatory nasa gov/IOTD/view php?id=83565&src=eoa-iotd

• Guitar Forest http://earthobservatory nasa gov/IOTD/view php?id=83561&src=eoa-iotd

• Yosemite's Granite http://earthobservatory nasa gov/IOTD/view php?id=83568&src=eoa-iotd

• China's Great Wall of Dust http://earthobservatory nasa gov/IOTD/view php?id=83554&src=eoa-iotd

• Persistent Ice on Lake Superior http://earthobservatory nasa gov/IOTD/view php?id=83541&src=eoa-iotd

• Hot Springs National Park http://earthobservatory nasa gov/IOTD/view php?id=83545&src=eoa-iotd

Recent Blog Posts: http://earthobservatory nasa gov/blogs/

Earth Matters * April Puzzler Answer: Yosemite's Granite http://earthobservatory nasa gov/blogs/earthmatters/?p=4692&src=eoa-blogs

Notes from the Field * The Pacific or “Peaceful” Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest of these basins as well as the deepest Its expanse runs 155 million square miles and contains "more than half of the free water on earth � The CLIVAR P16S field campaign has entered the waters of the South Pacific knows as a subtropical gyre Gyre means �circular or spiral motion � In the ocean, wind generated surface currents travel in a circular direction, either clockwise or counterclockwise, forming a large, circular body of water Blooms (large cell numbers) of phytoplankton cannot grow in these gyres because the water that piles up within the center of circulation is nutrient deficient http://earthobservatory nasa gov/blogs/fromthefield/?p=6070&src=eoa-blogs

• That's All, Folks!!! http://earthobservatory nasa gov/blogs/fromthefield/?p=6033&src=eoa-blogs