OBSERVATION / 004

The Eye of Québec.

Natural-color satellite view of the frozen ring of Manicouagan Reservoir amid Québec’s snow-covered landscape.

NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin · MODIS / NASA EOSDIS

Location: Manicouagan Reservoir / Canada
Image acquired: January 20, 2022
Platform / instrument: Terra / MODIS
Image type: Natural-color satellite image

Field notes

A frozen ring in Québec traces the remains of an impact structure formed about 214 million years ago. The shape has earned Manicouagan the name “Eye of Québec.” Snow and ice make its outline especially striking in this winter view.

The reservoir itself is much younger than the crater. Water rising behind the Daniel-Johnson Dam joined two separate lakes and surrounded the higher land at the center; the reservoir finished filling in 1977. Ancient geology and modern engineering share the same frame.

Read NASA’s full account ↗

This is dated source imagery. The homepage overlay is a graphic treatment, not a georeferenced measurement.