The strip of ocean sandwiched between Florida and the Bahamas is one of the world’s most studied marine environments, but it is also the center of an enduring geological puzzle.
Since at least the 1930s, scientists in the area have seen strange white clouds appear on the surface of the calm turquoise water.
This strange phenomenon is called the “albedo event,” and scientists still don’t understand why it happened in the Bahamas.
It has become something of a “white whale” for researchers at the nearby University of South Florida (USF).
Mysterious bright-colored ocean splotches are occasionally seen in other oceans and lakes around the world, but in the Bahamas, they’re appearing more frequently than usual.
Direct sampling of turbid water shows that it contains high concentrations of carbonate-rich particles.
Most of the Bahamas islands are located on submerged carbonate platforms known as the Banks of the Bahamas. Does this mean sediment is rising to the surface? Or could the flowering of phytoplankton actually produce suspended matter?
No one knows the answer to this question, but scientists at the University of South Florida are determined to find out. They used satellite imagery from NASA to show how albedo events change over the Bahamas.
The team doesn’t know if the trend they identified is natural or man-made, but what they do know is that from 2003 to 2020, the magnitude of these albedo events appeared to be seasonally related.
The largest spots occur from March to May and from October to December. On average, the white spots are about 2.4 square kilometers per section. On a clear day, satellite imagery typically captures about 24 images, covering an area of 32 square kilometers (12 square miles).
However, between 2011 and 2015, the patch suddenly swelled in size, covering more than 200 square kilometers (77 square miles) of ocean at its peak. However, in 2019, the freckles have shrunk again, although they are never as small as before.
The results suggest that the 10-year cycle may play a role. But what cycle exactly?
“I wish I could tell you why we’ve seen a peak in activity, but we’re not there yet,” Say You can buy USF Chuanmin Hu.
“We’ve seen some interesting relationships between environmental conditions, such as pH and salinity and the behavior of winds and currents, but we haven’t been able to pinpoint which mechanical, biological or chemical processes are responsible for these peaks of activity.”
More live field trials are needed, and not just in the Bahamas. Comparing spawning events in other regions can help scientists see what features they have in common.
University of South Florida researchers tested their model on spawning events in big lake With initial success, but now the pattern needs to be supported on land, or rather in water.
August 2. Satellite view of the early Pyramid Lake Whiting event pic.twitter.com/SoPltG1lG3
– Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe (plpt) August 10, 2020
Several studiesfor example, showing that albedo events are more prevalent in places with silty sediments.
In addition, it could be that some ocean conditions favor the suspension of sediment and calcium carbonate in the water column. As previously noted, recent satellite data has shown that white spots in the Bahamas are most common in the spring and winter, which is when the north-to-south Florida Current shifts.
Without further proof, all of these theories will remain as they are.
The study has been published in Remote environmental sensing.
