Images & Animations
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Credit
Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
The vivid turquoise streak colors the waters of the South Atlantic Ocean around Cape Columbine, South Africa. This sort of ocean coloring occurs when millions phytoplankton, microscopic marine plants, grow near the surface of the water. Such blooms are common in this region, where ocean currents sweep cold water from the ocean floor to the surface. The rising water carries nutrients from the sea floor, which nourishes the tiny plants. The plants in turn feed fish and other marine life. As a consequence, regions that boast frequent phytoplankton blooms occur also tend to support a thriving ecosystem.
Ironically, large phytoplankton blooms can also create dead zones in the ocean where no life can survive. As the plants die and sink to the ocean floor, bacteria begin to break them down. When the plant matter is dense, bacteria can consume all of the oxygen in the water, leaving oxygen-free areas that cannot support life. This region is one of three known naturally occurring dead zones in the world. The other two are off the coasts of Peru and Oregon. Other dead zones, all man made, occur near the mouths of rivers where agricultural runoff feeds phytoplankton.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image on December 3, 2004
Metadata
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Sensor
Terra/MODIS -
Visualization Date
2004-12-22
