Big Pic: Antarctica's Ross Sea Bloom
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Feb. 16, 2012 -- What may look like an artist's palette of blues and greens is actually the plankton-rich waters of Antarctica's Ross Sea, seen by NASA's Aqua satellite on Jan. 22, 2011. The extended sunlight of the polar summer spurs the growth of phytoplankton in the relatively shallow sea, painting the swirling ocean currents bright blue and green.
Phytoplankton comprise many different types of microscopic organisms. While some are bacteria or animal-like in nature, most are single-celled plants that photosynthesize sunlight via light-capturing chlorophyll.
When conditions are right these organisms can cover hundreds of miles of ocean with enormous blooms, bringing life -- and life-sustaining food -- to otherwise relatively barren waters.
Their colorful blooms can even be seen from space.
It's thought that the abundant phytoplankton blooms seen in the Ross Sea are fed by the Modified Circumpolar Deep Current, an offshoot of the powerful flows of ocean water that continuously circle Antarctica. As the current flows into the shallow Ross Sea, it brings with it iron and other nutrients from deeper, warmer water that contribute to the growth of plankton.
Phytoplankton blooms can last for weeks or months, although the individual organisms live only a few days.
BIG PIC: Phytoplankton Bloom Forms Enormous 'Figure-8'
--by Jason Major
NASA image courtesy Norman Kuring, Ocean Color Team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Instrument: Aqua - MODIS.
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