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From the Ocean to Cells: Coccolithophore Optics and Biogeochemistry

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Particle Analysis in Oceanography

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIG,volume 27))

Abstract

The detection of extensive areas of highly reflective ocean waters by satellite visible-band radiometers, including the Landsat MSS (Gower et al., 1980), the Nimbus-7 Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) (Holligan et al., 1983) and the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) (Groom and Holligan, 1987), and the identification of blooms of coccolithophores as the cause of the reflectance (Holligan et al., 1983; Balch et al., 1991) has led to renewed interest in the optical properties of this group of phytoplankton as well as in their ecology and biogeochemistry. The coccolithophores typically have complex life histories (Hibberd, 1980) which include a non-motile, planktonic phase characterised by external plates, or coccoliths, of calcium carbonate (Green, 1986; Westbroek et al., 1989). It is the backscattering of light by the coccoliths attached to the cells or detached in the water that is detected by the satellite sensors. This phenomenon is well known to sailors and fishermen as “white water”.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, West Hoe, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK

    P. M. Holligan

  2. Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, Fl, 33149-1098, USA

    W. M. Balch

Authors
  1. P. M. Holligan
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  2. W. M. Balch
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Maurice-Lamontagne, Ministère des Pêches et des Ocèans Canada, 850 Route de la Mer, Mont-Joli, Québec, G5H 3Z4, Canada

    Serge Demers

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© 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Holligan, P.M., Balch, W.M. (1991). From the Ocean to Cells: Coccolithophore Optics and Biogeochemistry. In: Demers, S. (eds) Particle Analysis in Oceanography. NATO ASI Series, vol 27. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75121-9_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75121-9_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-75121-9

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