Challenge Question

How does seasonal primary production vary? How does that relate to what you know about primary production?

Select a season to zoom to see:

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Your Objective

Investigate the "Chlorophyll-a Concentration" data to determine if there is an annual relationship to primary production over time and how the data vary in the Northern Pacific Ocean (Coastal Endurance Array).

Data Tip: Select different seasons to explore relationships and patterns in the data. Zoom in and out of the data to look at different time scales to see if it changes the relationships or patterns you observe.

Interpretation and Analysis Questions

  1. Is there an annual relationship to primary production over time?
    1. If so, explain what kind of relationship is it? Why do you think that relationship exists for chlorophyll-a concentration over time?
    2. If not, why do you think there is no relationship of chlorophyll-a concentration over time?
  2. How does this relationship, or lack of relationship, support or challenge what you previously knew about primary production?
  3. What questions do you still have about primary production?

Background Information

Click on the images below to learn more about where and how the dataset above was collected.