Principal Investigator Raffaele Ferrari
The annual cycle of phytoplankton growth in many parts of the ocean is dominated by a rapid, intense population explosion in late winter or early spring, the so-called spring bloom. The increase in the phytoplankton population associated with the spring bloom accounts for up to a third of the annual phytoplankton production and contributes significantly to the carbon flux to the deep ocean. The spring bloom occurs globally in coastal seas, lakes, in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and most famously in the North Atlantic where the associated change in ocean color can easily be seen from space. The group is currently studying what physical conditions prompt the onset of a bloom.