FROM THE OCEAN TO CELLS: COCCOLITHOPHORE OPTICS AND
BIOGEOCHEMISTRY
P. M. Holligan 1 and W. M. Balch 2
IPlymouth Marine Laboratory,
West Hoe,
Plymouth PLl 3DH,
United Kingdom.
2Rosenstiel School for Marine and
Atmospheric Science,
University of Miami,
Miami, Fl 33149-1098
United States
INTRODUCTION
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" .
Studies of preserved phytoplankton samples, of sediment trap material and of bottom
sediments have shown that Emiliania huxleyi (Lohm.) Hay et Mohler (Fig. 1) is the most
widespread and abundant coccolithophore in the oceans today (Honjo, 1976). It is the only
species that so far is known to produce high surface densities (> 1011 m- 3 ) of detached
coccoliths and is generally the dominant coccolithophore in reflective waters of both coastal
and oceanic situations. Although E. huxleyi is easily maintained in pure culture, as naked or
calcifying cell strains, various studies of its growth and physiology (Klaveness and Paasche,
1979; Brand, 1982; Sikes and Wilbur, 1982; Westbroek et al., 1983) have failed to provide
NATO ASI Series, Vol. G 27
Particle Analysis in Oceanography
Edited by S. Demers
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1991
BIOGEOCHEMISTRY
P. M. Holligan 1 and W. M. Balch 2
IPlymouth Marine Laboratory,
West Hoe,
Plymouth PLl 3DH,
United Kingdom.
2Rosenstiel School for Marine and
Atmospheric Science,
University of Miami,
Miami, Fl 33149-1098
United States
INTRODUCTION
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" .
Studies of preserved phytoplankton samples, of sediment trap material and of bottom
sediments have shown that Emiliania huxleyi (Lohm.) Hay et Mohler (Fig. 1) is the most
widespread and abundant coccolithophore in the oceans today (Honjo, 1976). It is the only
species that so far is known to produce high surface densities (> 1011 m- 3 ) of detached
coccoliths and is generally the dominant coccolithophore in reflective waters of both coastal
and oceanic situations. Although E. huxleyi is easily maintained in pure culture, as naked or
calcifying cell strains, various studies of its growth and physiology (Klaveness and Paasche,
1979; Brand, 1982; Sikes and Wilbur, 1982; Westbroek et al., 1983) have failed to provide
NATO ASI Series, Vol. G 27
Particle Analysis in Oceanography
Edited by S. Demers
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1991