KOMPAS.com - There are many on social media about the phenomenon of the glowing sea in southern Java on Wednesday (8/9/2021).
The photo was taken by a satellite from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which detected the "Milky Seas" in the sea south of Java.
Some netizens who just found out about this, assumed that the marine phenomenon was due to plate movement. "Just found out," wrote one Twitter account.
"Maybe it's water foam due to the movement of the underwater earth plate, just be prepared for a big Java earthquake," wrote another user.
So, what exactly is this phenomenon?
Milky Seas
Reporting from the journal Nature website, (29/7/2021), researchers from the US found the existence of large Milky Seas in the eastern Indian Ocean, or just south of Java.
This finding is based on imaging from a milky seas detector called the Day/Night Band (DNB).
The existence of the Milky Seas in the south of Java occurred in 2019, and this event took place during two full lunar cycles, namely 26 July-9 August 2019 and 25 August-7 September 2019.
On the night of July 25, DNB detected a luminous anomaly south of Surakarta, Java, near 9.5 degrees South Latitude, 111 degrees East Longitude.
Detection in moderate moonlight conditions indicated a very strong emission source.
It is known, the area of this colored ocean or known as the Milky Seas is approximately 100,000 square meters or the equivalent of Iceland.
However, this phenomenon is not detected during the day.
Causes of the Milky Seas
Main Expert Researcher in Applied Oceanography at the Marine Research Center, Research and Human Resources Agency, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Dr Widodo Setiyo Pranowo explained the meaning of Milky Seas.
"Milky Seas is a term when the sea surface with a very large area is bright like milk white, so that even at night it can be detected / looks glowing from the satellite," Widodo said when contacted by Kompas.com, Wednesday (8/9/2021).
He said the cause of this phenomenon could be caused by the color of illumination emitted by marine organisms, such as micro or nano plankton that contain phosphorus so that it looks like it glows in the dark sea water at night.
"The number of micro or nano plankton is so massive that it can meet the water column in the sea surface layer in a very wide area," he continued.
One area that has such potential is in the South Indian Ocean of Java.
This is because the probability of occurrence is in the period between June to October each year.
Widodo added, even though it appears every year, it doesn't always appear during that time (June-October).
Why does the Milky Seas occur between June-October?
In addition, Widodo explained, the Milky Seas occur every June-October because it is related to the Upwelling phenomenon or the rising mass of seawater from a certain depth to a shallower depth layer.
That is, when the mass of seawater rises (upwelling), then there are a number of massive nutrients that are also lifted up.
"In the surface layer that gets enough sunlight, then these nutrients are used by phytoplankton to photosynthesize to produce carbon and oxygen," said Widodo.
"When there are a lot of nutrients, the more phytoplankton will breed. Phytoplankton will also attract zooplankton," he continued.
Please note, each phytoplankton and zooplankton has many species. Each species has a variety of different colors.
When their number is very large in a certain area but is very large, it will produce a unique marine color orchestra known as color illumination.
Color illumination that occurs in the sea at night, apart from being raised by plankton organisms, is also assisted by long waves of solar energy (long wave solar radiation) released by the sea into space.
Where does "long wave solar radiation" come from?
Widodo continued, long wave solar radiation appears during the day between 6 am and 6 pm, the oceans in tropical Indonesia will receive solar energy.
"This solar energy is a form of short wave energy or often referred to as short wave solar radiation," Widodo said.
Then, the solar energy when it enters the sea water, will be temporarily stored by the sea water.
Later, the energy will be released back into space into 'long wave solar radiation' at night.
He added, the saltier the seawater or the higher the salt content in seawater, the higher and longer solar energy will be stored temporarily.
According to him, the cause of the Milky Seas is the massive phytoplankton at the surface to a depth of about 10 meters.
Therefore, when the concentration of phytoplankton is higher, the color of the light spectrum that will be reflected into the sky will become brighter or whiter, approaching the color of milk, so it is said to be a Milky Seas phenomenon.
Source: Kompas.com
Author: Retia Kartika Dewi
Editor: Rendika Ferri Kurniawan
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