Satellite color observations of spring blooming in Bering Sea shelf waters during the ice edge retreat in 1980

• Main Authors: Maynard, Nancy G., Clark, Dennis K.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 1987
• Subjects: 48; Bering Sea; Norton Sound; ice pack
• Online Access: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19870060023

The temporal and spatial development of the ice-edge bloom and the spring open-water bloom on the eastern Bering Sea shelf was studied using CZCS images of the eastern Bering Sea between April 27 and July 22, 1980. Images of the Norton Sound area taken during the period of ice breakup show that the influence of ice melt on phytoplankton growth is particularly significant where the ice is actively melting. Significant levels (5-30 mg/cu m) of chlorophyll could be seen trailing the ice pack as it melted and moved northward and westward in late April and early May. In the ice-free eastern Bering Sea midsummer image, a northwesterly oriented band of high pigment concentration was seen in the area of the outer domain, suggesting periodic offshore movements of shelf waters.