Ocean Zones
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Transcript of Ocean Zones
Ocean Zones
Include Intertidal zone, neritic zone, and the open ocean zone.
Ocean Zones
Highest tide on land is where it begins.
From there the zone stretches out to the point on the continental shelf exposed by the lowest tide.
Intertidal Zone
Extents from the low tide line out to the edge of the continental shelf
Neritic Zone
Beyond the continental shelf lies open ocean zone
Zone is the deepest, darkest part of the ocean
Open Ocean Zone
Most live near the surface
Scientists classify marine organisms according to where they live and how they move
Organisms
Are tiny algae and animals that float in the water and are carried by waves and currents.
Include geometrically shaped diatoms
Plankton
Free swimming animals that can move throughout the water column
Squid, most fishes, and marine mammals such as whales and seals.
Nekton
Are organisms that inhabit the ocean floor.
Crab, sea stars, octopus and lobsters are examples.
Benthos
Organisms that live in the rocky intertidal zone must be able to tolerate the pounding of waves, salinity, and temp
Must also withstand periods of being underwater and exposed to air.
Intertidal zone
An environment along the oceans edge
Is a coastal inlet or bay where fresh water from a river mixes with salty ocean water.
Water is known as brackish.
Estuary
Are habitats found in and around estuaries
Along the US coasts, most wetlands are either mangrove forests or salt marshes.
Coastal Wetlands
Have muddy soil that is rich in nutrients and dominant plant is cordgrass
Tide channels running through the grass break up waves, thus protecting organism from the ocean surf
Salt Marshes
Have arching prop roots that anchor the trees to the land
Roots break up wind and waves protecting organism that live there
Roots also trap sediment so water is rich in nutrients
Mangroves
Extends from low tide out to the edge of the continental shelf
Hallow water over the continental shelf receives sunlight and a steady supply of nutrients washed from the land into the ocean
Neritic Zone
Are coral reefs and kelp forests
Habitats in Neritic Zone
Can from only in shallow tropical ocean waters
Produce a hard material around their soft bodies
When they die hard materials is left behind
Coral Reefs
Grow in cold neritic waters where the ocean has a rocky floor
Kelp Forests
Begins where the nertic zone ends, at the end of the continental shelf
Only a small part of the open ocean receives sunlight
Has fewer nutrients.
Open Ocean
Surface zone is the only part of the open ocean that receives enough sunlight to support algae
Microscopic organisms are the base of food webs in the open ocean
Surface Zone
Dark and cold Many deep sea
fishes produce their own light called bioluminescence.
Deep Ocean
Located in the deep zone
Is an area in which heated ocean water rises through the cracks of ocean floor
Chemical nutrients in the heated water support unique organisms.
Hydrothermal Vent