Science · 6 pages · 12 min
Why the deep ocean looks blue
Water itself swallows red light and leaves blue to be scattered back.
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From the opening
The deep ocean looks blue because water absorbs long wavelengths much more strongly than short ones. After the light has traveled some distance, reds and then greens are depleted, and the light that can still scatter back toward you is mostly blue. The opening covers why red is absorbed first, why shallow water shows the bottom, and what plankton does to the color.
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Inside
- Why red is absorbed first
- Why shallow water shows the bottom
- What plankton does to the color
- Why a glass of water looks clear
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- The visible absorption spectrum of pure water
- Scattering of wavelengths water does not absorb