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Emiliania huxleyi: bloom observations and the conditions that induce them

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Coccolithophores

Summary

Most of what is known about the distribution of blooms of Emiliania huxleyi comes from satellite evidence. However, patches of bright water in satellite images are not always E. huxleyi blooms and satellite evidence needs to be verified by in situ sampling in the area. In this article we firstly describe the observational evidence for these blooms in various regions of the global ocean, and then proceed to describe mimicking conditions: the occasional bright waters that are not E. huxleyi blooms. In the second part of this article we discuss the possible causes of the E. huxleyi blooms. We review the various hypotheses concerning the water conditions required to generate these blooms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Ocean and Earth Science, Southampton Oceanography Centre, Southampton University, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK

    Toby Tyrrell & Agostino Merico

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  1. Toby Tyrrell
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  2. Agostino Merico
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Institute, ETH-Zentrum, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland

    Hans R. Thierstein

  2. Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD, London, UK

    Jeremy R. Young

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Tyrrell, T., Merico, A. (2004). Emiliania huxleyi: bloom observations and the conditions that induce them. In: Thierstein, H.R., Young, J.R. (eds) Coccolithophores. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-06278-4_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-06278-4_4

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-06016-8

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