Coccolithophore bloom

Credit: Credit: Jacques Descloitres; MODIS team; NASA, Posted on: Monday, 21 June 2004, 06:00 CDT Download full size image

A bloom of what are probably coccolithophores - single-celled marine plants with white calcium carbonate shells - floats in the waters west of the English Channel in this Aqua MODIS image from June 15, 2004. The white shells, combined with the blue reflectance of the water, tint the water bright blue. The color could also be caused by other types of phytoplankton (also microscopic marine plants that grow near the surface of the ocean). When a large colony of the plants bloom, the chlorophyll colors the water green. In satellite imagery, the effect is often a bright blue-green patch in otherwise dark ocean water.

More Images

Mars
Split Slope Streak in Unnamed Crater.The northern slope of this unnamed crater in Arabia Terra exhibits light- and dark-toned slope st...

---

Universe
Enceladus Closeup: Flyby Skeet Shoot #4.This image is the fourth skeet-shoot footprint taken during Cassini's very close flyby of Enceladus ...

---