Earth  ID: 10983

Secret Garden

Scientists have long thought that the waters underneath Arctic sea ice were too dark for plant life to grow. But in summer 2011, a NASA expedition to study the impacts of climate change in the Arctic found massive blooms of phytoplankton, tiny plant-like creatures essential for all sea life, thriving below the floating ice pack just north of Alaska. Researchers suspect changes to the Arctic Ocean's frozen ice cover are behind these blooms. Shallow melt ponds riddle the thinning ice at the edges of the ice cap, acting as natural skylights that allow sunlight to reach the nutrient-rich waters below. These conditions create the perfect breeding ground for phytoplankton. The visualization shows phytoplankton concentrations observed at different depths along the expedition's sampling route in the Chukchi Sea from July 3-8, 2011.
 

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Story Credits

Visualizers/Animators:
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC)
Trent L. Schindler (USRA)

Producer:
Kayvon Sharghi (USRA)

Lead Scientists:
Kevin Arrigo (Standford University)
Karen Frey (Clark University)
Donald Perovich (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

Lead Writer:
Maria-Jose Vinas Garcia (Telophase)

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Under-ice photos and footage courtesy of Karen Frey (Clark University)
Diatoms photo courtesy of William M. Balch/Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
Canisters photo courtesy of NASA/GSFC/Kathryn Hansen
Ship photo courtesy of NASA/GSFC/Kathryn Hansen
Melt pond photo courtesy of NASA/GSFC/Kathryn Hansen

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