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A westward-looking view of central South Island, showing the snow-covered Southern Alps fronted by the Canterbury Plain, the largest area of fertile, flat land in New Zealand. Running southwest to northeast along the western coast of South Island, the Southern Alps are rugged mountains made up of numerous peaks in excess of 3,000 m (9,840 ft). Within the Southern Alps, there are over 3,100 active glaciers. Click on photo to increase resolution. Image courtesy of NASA.