Plant physiology different kinds of molecules, including porphyrins, carotenoids, and anthocyanins. All biological pigments selectively absorb certain wavelengths of light while reflecting others. The light that is absorbed may be used by the plant to power chemical reactions, while the reflected wavelengths of light determine the color the pigment appears to the eye. Chlorophyll is the primary pigment in plants; it is a porphyrin that absorbs red and blue wavelengths of light while reflecting green. It is the presence and relative abundance of chlorophyll that gives plants their green color. All land plants and green algae possess two forms of this pigment:
Deep chlorophyll maximum of phytoplankton that have adapted to functioning in low light conditions. To adapt to low light conditions, some phytoplankton populations have been found to have increased amounts of chlorophyll counts per cell, which contributes to the formation of the DCM. Rather than an increase of overall cell numbers, seasonal light limitation or low irradiance levels can raise the individual cellular chlorophyll content. As depth increases within the mixing zone, phytoplankton must rely on having higher pigment counts (chlorophyll) to capture photic energy. Due to the higher concentration of chlorophyll in the phtoplankton present, the DCM does not predict the depth