MSGID: 1:317/3 62acc142   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   June 17, 2022 - Bloomin' Black Sea   
      
      Black Sea   
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      Aquatic artists painted glorious jewel-toned colors in the normally   
      dark waters of the Black Sea in mid-June 2022. The Moderate Resolution   
      Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite   
      acquired a true-color image of the astounding scene on June 16. This   
      image captures swirls ranging from deep olive, to turquoise, to   
      milky-blue in the western end of the Black Sea, off the coasts of   
      Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey.   
      
      The tiny artists didn’t create the multi-hued masterpiece with brushes   
      and paint, they created it from the pigments found within their own   
      cellular structure. Phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that   
      contain chlorophyll and other pigments. Some, such as coccolithophores,   
      lend a milky tone to the colorful scene because they contain chalk-like   
      calcium carbonate plates in their structure. These tiny organisms live   
      in these waters year-round, but when conditions are perfect—proper   
      temperature, sufficient nutrients, and enough sunlight—they can   
      reproduce explosively, creating gigantic blooms that can be easily seen   
      from space. With more than 150 species of phytoplankton identified from   
      the waters of the Black Sea, when multiple species bloom at the same   
      time, the result is often a stunning, multi-toned palette.   
      
      Large blooms of phytoplankton can be beneficial, because they form the   
      base of the marine food web and provide nourishment for fish and other   
      organisms, and because they can sequester carbon, keeping it out of the   
      atmosphere. However, phytoplankton may also be harmful, especially when   
      large blooms die rapidly. Decaying plants reduce oxygen out of water,   
      creating conditions that are so oxygen-poor that they are called “dead   
      zones”, because little life can survive under such conditions.   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Terra   
      Date Acquired: 6/16/2022   
      Resolutions:  1km (248.2 KB),  500m (691.8 KB),  250m (1.9 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=2022-06-17   
       
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