The Sea of MarmaraNestled in between the Asian and European locales of Turkey, the Sea of Marmara is

The Sea of MarmaraNestled in between the Asian and European locales of Turkey, the Sea of Marmara is large inland body of water that links the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea. The narrow Bosphorus Strait, which separates Istanbul into its Asian and European territories, connects the Marmara to the Black Sea, while the Dardenelles Strait flows from the Marmara into the Aegean Sea. Its strategic location makes the Sea of Marmara an important port for trade and shipping between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean — an economic feature that has lasted since the days of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire. Similar to the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara possesses a unique layered structure with denser, saltier water at its bottom and fresher water at the surface. With rivers and waterways that contribute organic-rich runoff from the continental interior and the surrounding cities and villages, the top freshwater layer is a natural breeding ground for microscopic algae, also known as phytoplankton. This image, captured by the Operational Land Imager on the Landsat 8 satellite in May of this year, shows the swirling blooms of phytoplankton in the Sea of Marmara. The most concentrated swirls reveal the currents and eddies in the Sea of Marmara — a complicated mix of patterns compounded from the inflow and outflow of water from the Bosphorus and Dardenelle Straits, as well as interference from the rugged Turkish shores and the disjointed, tectonically active seafloor.-DCPhoto credit: http://1.usa.gov/1SVeAa7More reading: http://1.usa.gov/1T8mNSVhttp://bit.ly/1KTWeBKhttp://1.usa.gov/1DtLckv -- source link

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