August 12, 2022 - Blooms North of Scandinavia

Blooms
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On August 5, 2022, clouds covering the Barents Sea opened just as
NASA’s Terra satellite passed overhead, allowing the Moderate
Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board to capture a
true-color image of brilliant swirls of blues and greens.

The spectacular color was created by a massive bloom of phytoplankton,
which are microscopic plant-like organisms that live in these waters
year-round. It’s only when conditions are perfect—the right water
temperatures, daylight length, and nutrient load—that phytoplankton
reproduce explosively to create huge blooms such as this. This view is
a rare treat, since the Barents Sea sits under cloud cover about 80 per
cent of time during the summer months.

Many different species of phytoplankton live in this region, each
lending slightly different colors to the waters when they predominate
in a bloom. One specific type of phytoplankton common in the high light
levels of the Arctic summer are called coccolithophores. They are
unique as they contain plates made out of calcium carbonate, a
chalk-colored substance that lends a milky tone to blooms rich in these
organisms. The color of this Barents Sea bloom suggests it is rich in
coccolithophores.

The bloom is located north of the Scandinavian Peninsula and south of
Svalbard archipelago, in a shallow area of the Barents Sea where
several ocean current systems merge and to form the North Cape Current.
The clashing of currents creates mixing of waters and raises nutrients
from the sea floor, and also helps paint a swirling image as the
colorful floating bloom is swept along by eddies. The Barents Sea is
ice-covered for most of the year and reaches its warmest temperatures
in August, creating perfect conditions for phytoplankton blooms.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 8/5/2022
Resolutions: 1km (180.4 KB), 500m (512 KB), 250m (1.3 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=2022-08-12

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