Phytoplankton blooms on the rise across Arctic Ocean

Phytoplankton blooms on the rise across Arctic Ocean

NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites captured a majestic shot of blooms of phytoplankton showing up in higher concentrations across the Arctic Ocean this summer. Every summer, parts of the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas lose their ice cover and bask in ample…

Southern Ocean drives massive bloom of tiny phytoplankton

Southern Ocean drives massive bloom of tiny phytoplankton

Scientists have uncovered the ocean conditions that support a massive summertime bloom of algae that spans 16 % of the global ocean. Known as the Great Calcite Belt, this dense group of a microscopic phytoplankton, coccolithophores, can be seen in satellite images…

Previously unknown, massive source of methanol identified

Previously unknown, massive source of methanol identified

A team of scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have identified the massive, previously unknown source of methanol in the ocean. According to the study, the phytoplankton, microscopic plant-like organisms, possess a surprising and unique…

Dust storms affecting ocean phytoplankton

Dust storms affecting ocean phytoplankton

MIT study finds that the short residence of iron in surface waters makes phytoplankton very sensitive to any changes in the level of desert dust in the ocean. Desert dust is one of the only sources of ocean iron. Each spring, dust storms in the deserts of Mongolia and n

Increasing ocean acidification and the effects on microalgae

Increasing ocean acidification and the effects on microalgae

Scientists have for the first time examined on a global scale how calcified algae in their natural habitat react to increasing acidification due to higher marine uptake of carbon dioxide.In the current issue of the magazine Nature they explain that Coccolithophores,

One of the world’s roughest stretches of water

One of the world’s roughest stretches of water

Runoff from heavy rains, combined with wave action along the coast, increased the turbidity of New Zealand’s waters when this image was acquired on April 29, 2011, according to a NASA statement. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on

Arctic's spring phytoplankton blooms arrive earlier

Arctic's spring phytoplankton blooms arrive earlier

When summer comes to the Arctic, the tiny plants that feed the ocean's food chain form green blooms in the water. In some Arctic waters, the peak of this bloom has been arriving earlier every year since 1997, a study has found.

These areas, where peak bloom

Understanding the patterns of seafloor biomass

Understanding the patterns of seafloor biomass

The vast majority of the biological production in the world's oceans occurs within sunlit surface waters – the so-called photic zone. Through the process of photosynthesis, tiny marine plants called phytoplankton use the energy of sunlight to build the carbon-rich