October 7, 2021 - Phytoplankton Bloom off of Greenland
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Phytoplankton off of Greenland
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Swirls of turquoise, milky blue, and green swirled in the dark waters
off the coast of Greenland in early October 2021. The Moderate
Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua
satellite acquired a true-color image of the colorful scene on October
5.
The jewel-toned colors are primarily caused by a large bloom of
phytoplankton. These microscopic plant-like organisms live in the cold
waters off of Greenland’s coast year-round. About 35 percent of
Greenland’s glaciers flow into the ocean, where they disperse large
volumes of meltwater below sea level. These slow-moving glaciers sweep
sediment along with them, creating nutrient-rich plumes that stretch
into the ocean then rise upward to spur explosive growth of
phytoplankton.
Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 10/5/2021
Resolutions: 1km (357.1 KB), 500m (1.1 MB), 250m (2.7 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-10-07
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