Researchers have spoken in the past of trying to detect a marker for chlorophyll, the pigment in plants that plays a critical role in photosynthesis.

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He traveled through and measured over 1200 miles of a chlorophyll bloom along the Equatorial Pacific.

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The process of disassembly liberates chlorophyll from a molecular production-line called the electron-transfer system.

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This causes chlorophyll (a green pigment) to return to the orange skins imbuing them with a greenish or yellowish finish as they ripen.

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While typically monitored through satellite imagery direct validation of chlorophyll blooms at this resolution provides a groundbreaking link between scientific modeling and in-situ measurement of the Pacific Ocean.

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These areas are known as HNLC (high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll) zones and are thought to be caused by a scarcity of iron.

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