Snow across the burnt-orange rock of the Colorado Plateau makes the rugged topography of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River leap out from the center of this image captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on NASA’s Aqua satellite on November 23, 2004.

The image shows the eastern half of the canyon, starting with the section known as Marble Canyon at upper right, just downstream of Lake Powell (shown in large-format image). The upper reaches of Marble Canyon are rimmed on the west by the Vermillion Cliffs, and on the east by the Kaibito Plateau. A salmon-colored line running away from Marble Canyon across the plateau is Echo Cliffs.