The process has left a fingerprint on the newly emerged land. In this photo, faint, closely spaced ridges parallel the shore of ice-covered James Bay at the terminus of the Harricana river. These beach ridges<\/a> formed from tidal action reworking sands and silts along the shore, with newer ridges developing along the water as land rises and relative sea level drops.<\/p>\n The Harricana and adjacent waterways flow through boreal peat bogs, or muskeg, in the Hudson Bay Lowlands on their journey out to sea. As the world\u2019s second largest peatland complex<\/a>, the lowlands store significant amounts of soil carbon. Elsewhere around the bay, the landscape retains features carved by glaciers<\/a>, such as drumlins<\/a> and eskers<\/a>.<\/p>\n With the approach of summer, the muted colors of the frozen months give way to a more varied palette. Peatlands take on a lush, green appearance, and partially decayed organic matter in the peat releases tannins<\/a> that stain the water dark brown like a strong tea<\/a>. Sea ice that has remained attached to the James Bay shoreline for several months typically begins to break up in mid- to late-May, with melting<\/a> complete by the end of July.<\/p>\n Astronaut photograph\u00a0ISS074-E-417241<\/a> was acquired on March 26, 2026, with a Nikon Z9 digital camera using a focal length of 200 millimeters. It was provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at NASA Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the\u00a0Expedition 74<\/a>\u00a0crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The\u00a0International Space Station Program<\/a>\u00a0supports the laboratory as part of the\u00a0ISS National Lab<\/a>\u00a0to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA\/JSC\u00a0Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth<\/a>. Story by Lindsey Doermann.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t EBSCO Research Starters (2024) Hudson Bay<\/a>. Accessed April 14, 2026.<\/p>\n GRACE Tellus, Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA)<\/a>. Accessed April 14, 2026.<\/p>\n NASA Earth Observatory (2023, June 17) James Bay Melts Out<\/a>. Accessed April 14, 2026.<\/p>\n NASA Earth Observatory (2016, October 1) Some Tea With Your River?<\/a> Accessed April 14, 2026.<\/p>\n Price,\u00a0J.S., et al. (1988) Vegetation patterns in James Bay coastal marshes. II. Effects of hydrology on salinity and vegetation<\/a>.\u00a0Canadian Journal of Botany,\u00a066(12): 2586-2594.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ISS074-E-417243_lrg.jpg\")
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