Earth from Space: A southern summer bloom
Monday, January 16, 2012 - 08:31
in Earth & Climate
(PhysOrg.com) -- In this Envisat image, a phytoplankton bloom swirls a figure-of-8 in the South Atlantic Ocean about 600 km east of the Falkland Islands. During this period in the southern hemisphere, the ocean becomes rich in minerals from the mixing of surface waters with deeper waters. Phytoplankton depend on these minerals, making blooms like this common in the spring and summer.