File:Phytoplankton Bloom in the Barents Sea.jpg
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Size of this preview: 800 × 578 pixels. Other resolutions: 320 × 231 pixels | 640 × 462 pixels | 1,024 × 740 pixels | 1,280 × 924 pixels | 2,560 × 1,849 pixels | 8,054 × 5,817 pixels.
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English: In this natural-colour image, the ocean’s canvas swirls with turquoise, teal, navy, and green, the abstract art of the natural world. The colours were painted by a massive phytoplankton bloom made up of millions of tiny, light-reflecting organisms growing in the sunlit surface waters of the Barents Sea. Such blooms peak every August in the Barents Sea.
The variations in colour are caused by different species and concentrations of phytoplankton. The bright blue colours are probably from coccolithophores, a type of phytoplankton that is coated in a chalky shell that reflects light, turning the ocean a milky turquoise. Coccolithophores dominate the Barents Sea in August. Shades of green are likely from diatoms, another type of phytoplankton. Diatoms usually dominate the Barents Sea earlier in the year, giving way to coccolithophores in the late summer. However, field measurements of previous August blooms have also turned up high concentrations of diatoms. |
| Date | |
| Source | NASA Earth Observatory |
| Author | Norman Kuring |
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Image captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua. Image courtesy of the NASA Ocean Color Group.
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This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.) |  |
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| Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| current | 10:53, 24 September 2012 | | 8,054 × 5,817 (8.72 MB) | Denniss (talk | contribs) | -progressive |
| 13:49, 5 September 2010 |  | 8,054 × 5,817 (7.94 MB) | Originalwana (talk | contribs) | {{Information |Description={{en|1=In this natural-colour image, the ocean’s canvas swirls with turquoise, teal, navy, and green, the abstract art of the natural world. The colours were painted by a |
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