The Microbial Carpets of The Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone NP
The center of the pool is sterile due to the extreme temperature. Without any organisms, this area has the deep intrinsic blue colour of water, as the result of water’s absorption of red wavelengths of visible light. The edges of the pool consists of bands of different colours and each band in the “microbial rainbow” represents a mini-ecosystem.
Several pigmented bacteria grow in the microbial mats at different ranges of temperature. In these thermal gradients, or distinct zones of microbial communities adapted to a specific temperature, microbes produce bright colours such as green (chlorophylls) and red (carotenoids). Depending on the amount of sunlight, the temperature of the water changes throughout the year, and may favor one kind of microbe over another. In the summer, the photosynthetic microbes in the mats produce dark red and orange pigments as a form of protection from the intense sunlight. During the winter, the mats appear dark green due to the domination of green photosynthetic pigments.
The Microbial Carpets of The Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone NP
The center of the pool is sterile due to the extreme temperature. Without any organisms, this area has the deep intrinsic blue colour of water, as the result of water’s absorption of red wavelengths of visible light. The edges of the pool consists of bands of different colours and each band in the “microbial rainbow” represents a mini-ecosystem.
Several pigmented bacteria grow in the microbial mats at different ranges of temperature. In these thermal gradients, or distinct zones of microbial communities adapted to a specific temperature, microbes produce bright colours such as green (chlorophylls) and red (carotenoids). Depending on the amount of sunlight, the temperature of the water changes throughout the year, and may favor one kind of microbe over another. In the summer, the photosynthetic microbes in the mats produce dark red and orange pigments as a form of protection from the intense sunlight. During the winter, the mats appear dark green due to the domination of green photosynthetic pigments.