Cyclone Rusty's Rains Stirred Up Sediment

In the wake of Cyclone Rusty's heavy rains from the week of Feb. 25 when it made landfall near Port Hedland on the Pilbara coast of Western Australia, sediment filled many rivers and tributaries that flowed northwest into the Southern Indian Ocean. In addition to sediment that was swept into the ocean, Rusty stirred up sediment from the ocean bottom. The sediment appears as swirls in this true-color satellite image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite on March 3, 2013 at 0600 UTC 1 a.m. EST).