December 20, 2022 - Bloom around Falkland Islands

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Brilliant jewel-toned swirls colored the dark waters surrounding the
sedate landscape of the Falklands Islands in mid-December 2022. The
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s
Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the spectacular scene on
December 19.

The Falkland Islands, also known as Islas Malvinas, are a group of more
than 700 islands situated in the South Atlantic Ocean, about 500 km
(310 miles) east of southern Argentina. Just two of the islands—East
Falkland and West Falkland—comprise the bulk of the Connecticut-sized
landmass.

The bright colors lighting up the Southern Ocean are caused by massive
populations of microscopic plant-like organisms called phytoplankton.
These tiny organisms contain chlorophyll and other pigments and thrive
in nutrient-rich waters, such as can be found in the Malvinas
(Falkland) Current which sweeps cold water from near the Antarctic
northward and around the Falkland Islands. As sunlight begins to
lengthen in the springtime, the combination of abundant light and dense
nutrients proves a heady concoction for phytoplankton, spurring them to
reproduce explosively. This often results in huge floating blooms which
can easily be seen from space.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 12/19/2022
Resolutions: 1km (536.1 KB), 500m (1.3 MB), 250m (670.9 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-12-20

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