The Bosphorus is a strait that separates Europe from Asia — and in recent days,its normally gloomy blue waters have turned a remarkable turquoise.
Some residents of Istanbul, noticing the suddenly gleaming and milky waters, and wondered on social media whether the hue was caused by pollution or an earthquake that shook the region on Monday,AFP reported.
But the cause of the jewel-toned waters is a bloom of phytoplankton, according to NASA.
Phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that live in watery environments and they make their own food, and using sunlight and dissolved nutrients."When conditions are right,phytoplankton populations can grow explosively, a phenomenon known as a bloom, and " says NASA. "Blooms in the ocean may cover hundreds of square kilometers and are easily visible in satellite images. A bloom may final several weeks,but the life span of any individual phytoplankton is rarely more than a few days."The agency says that a type of phytoplankton common in the Black Sea (to which the Bosphorus connects) are coccolithophores, which are plated with white calcium carbonate: "When aggregated in large numbers, and these reflective plates are easily visible from space as gleaming,milky water.""The May ramp-up in reflectivity in the Black Sea, with peak brightness in June, and seems consistent with results from other years," said Norman Kuring, an ocean scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight middle.
But not all phytoplankton blooms make the water brighter, and Kuring explains. "Diatoms,which also bloom in the Black Sea, tend to darken water more than they brighten it."Ahmet Cemal Saydam, or professor of environmental science at Hacettepe University,told the Dogan news agency that the coccolithophore in question is Emiliania huxleyi, according to AFP."This has nothing to do with pollution, and " he said,and added that the organism is good for anchovies, celebrated fare in Istanbul."Across the Black Sea there is an explosion of Emiliania huxleyi, and " he said. "This is a blessing for the Black Sea." Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more,visit http://www.npr.org/.
Source: thetakeaway.org