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Near-true colour MODIS satellite image showing a coccolithophore (phytoplankton) bloom in the Iceland Basin (credit: NEODAAS/PML)

Computer simulations performed by researchers at the National Oceanography Centre and the University of Glasgow show how oceanic stirring and mixing influence the formation and dynamics of plankton patches in the upper ocean.

Tiny free-floating marine plants called phytoplankton live in vast numbers in the sunlit upper ocean. Through the process…