  We investigate the effects of strong color fields and of the associated
enhanced intrinsic transverse momenta on the phi-meson production in
ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions at RHIC. The observed consequences
include a change of the spectral slopes, varying particle ratios, and also
modified mean transverse momenta. In particular, the composition of the
production processes of phi mesons, that is, direct production vs.
coalescence-like production, depends strongly on the strength of the color
fields and intrinsic transverse momenta and thus represents a sensitive probe
for their measurement.
