Phytoplankton Bloom Off Argentina

Credit: Jeff Schmaltz; MODIS team; NASA, Posted on: Sunday, 17 December 2006, 10:03 CST Download full size image

Ethereal greens and blues color the water off the coast of Argentina in this December 5, 2006 image, captured the the MODIS on the Terra satellite. The rippling color in the water is actually a large phytoplankton bloom in the South Atlantic Ocean off the coat of Argentina, South America. Phytoplankton are microscopic marine plants - with summer approaching in the Southern Hemisphere, they are spending the long days growing rapidly!

The green and black coloration in the water show where the highest concentrations of phytoplantkon. Chlorophyll causes the green color. In addition, in black water, the phytoplankton are absorbing so much sunlight for food that only a little bit of light is reflected back to space.

This region of the world, between the Falkland Islands and the eastern coast of South America, seems to spawn large and beautiful phytoplankton blooms.

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