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| Image from the original article |
In early December 2011, colours ranging from yellowish brown to peacock green spread across the Persian Gulf. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-colour image of the Persian Gulf on December 12, 2011.
Several factors could account for the green colour. One possibility is tiny phytoplankton—plant-like marine organisms that live in the water. The chlorophyll in phytoplankton often appears bright green or blue in natural-colour satellite imagery, so phytoplankton may be present in this image. However, this occurred only two days after a dust storm swept across Syria and Iraq. Those dust-bearing winds likely generated waves that disturbed the seabed in this region and suspended sediment in the seawater. Sediment increases the amount of light reflected out of the water and may also contribute to increased chlorophyll and plankton in the water.