Coccolithophores
by Miroslava Jurcik
Title
Coccolithophores
Artist
Miroslava Jurcik
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Like any other type of phytoplankton, coccolithophores are one-celled marine plants that live in large numbers throughout the upper layers of the ocean.
Unlike most phytoplankton they surround themselves with a microscopic plating made of limestone (calcite). These scales, known as coccoliths, are shaped like hubcaps and are only three one-thousandths of a millimeter in diameter.
There are few different types, I am only showing you 2 types(from wiki commas), and I have no idea which type would be in Sydney waters !
Additional coccoliths are dumped into the water when the coccolithophores multiply asexually, die or simply make too many scales. In areas with trillions of coccolithophores, the waters will turn an opaque turquoise from the dense cloud of coccoliths. Scientists estimate that the organisms dump more than 1.5 million tons (1.4 billion kilograms) of calcite a year, making them the leading calcite producers in the ocean.
The ocean is in North Head Sydney, and the microscopic picture, scanned into a computer is Coccolithus pelagicus (2of them) By Richard Lampitt, Jeremy Young, The Natural History Museum, London (http://planktonnet.awi.de/) [CC BY 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
and the 3rd one is Gephyrocapsa oceanica by : Photo by NEON ja, colored by Richard Bartz - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6072505
And here is the wiki page were you can find both the pictures : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccolithophore
Also this pic is more for education purpose and the other pictures in the serious are for beauty !
Uploaded
April 17th, 2018
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Comments (13)
Mary Machare
I love this stunning series, Miroslava. The beautiful colors and frothy waves... gorgeous work. FB LF
Alana Thrower
Beautiful capture and great inlay of the plankton! Thanks for all of the information about this phenomenon! l/f/g+/t/p
Marian Bell
Have never seen anything like this, Miroslava! Nice shot! Love the swirling waters in the background! l/f
Lena Owens OLena Art
Aqua blue is incredible color and excellent informative text!! Thank you, Miroslava!