Lab 7.1 – How does the abundance of Chlorophyll-a vary over the course of a year?
Estimated time to complete: 45 minutes
Materials needed: None
What trends or patterns can you observe in primary production (chlorophyll-a concentration) over time in the temperate Atlantic Ocean? Use the graph to answer the following questions.
Hint: when you hover over a data point, a box will pop up with more information. You also can adjust the date range shown by using the slider bar.
Orientation questions
- What data does the x-axis represent?
- What data does the y-axis represent?
- What is the approximate data range and units on the x-axis?
- What is the approximate data range and units on the y-axis?
- On what day was chlorophyll-a the highest?
- During what month was chlorophyll-a consistently the lowest?
Interpretation questions
- Over the course of the year, what overall trends or patterns do you see in the concentration of chlorophyll-a?
- Are there certain times of the year when chlorophyll-a tends to be higher? If so, during which months or seasons? Are there certain times of the year when chlorophyll-a tends to be lower? If so, during which months or seasons?
- Based on what you know about primary production, what might explain this pattern?
- What additional data would be useful to explain what causes this pattern?
Assessment question
- Would the abundance of zooplankton in this area be expected to vary seasonally as well? Why or why not?
