Landsat Phytoplankton Factory

Notice the color gradients across the images. Bright green areas could be a mix of dinoflagellates, diatoms, and coccolithophores; in the bluer areas, coccolithophores likely dominate. Coccolithophores can continue to grow in waters where iron has been depleted, whereas diatoms need both silicate and iron.

Whichever species were blooming, their abundance indicates the biological richness along Patagonia’s continental shelf, which is the site of some of the world’s richest fisheries.