Menu Close

Which ocean zones are most productive?

Which ocean zones are most productive?

The uppermost zone, from the sea surface to a depth of 200 m (656 ft), is called the epipelagic or photic zone. The large amount of available sunlight makes this the most productive zone of the ocean.

What do horizontal ocean zones include?

The ocean is divided into horizontal zones based on the depth of water beneath: the intertidal, neritic, and oceanic.

What is in the midnight zone?

What is the “midnight zone”? The ocean’s midnight zone is a region between one and four kilometres deep, where no sunlight at all penetrates the frigid water. With no light, there is no growth of plants or phytoplankton – all animals are thus predators or scavengers.

Why do phytoplankton live in the photic zone?

Planktonic aquatic organisms such as phytoplankton, are shallow water creatures; they are restricted to the photic zone in oceans because growth is totally dependent upon photosynthesis.

Which oceanic zone has the lowest productivity?

Red end of spectrum is highest productivity, blue/violet end is lowest. The overall pattern with latitude is clearly visible: low productivity in the tropics and subtropics, probably due to nutrient limitation brought about by strong, year-round thermocline and pycnocline.

Which zone of the ocean is brightly lit and contains phytoplankton?

The sunlit region near the surface in which photosynthesis can occur is known as the photic zone. The photic zone may be as deep as 200 meters in tropical seas, but just a few meters deep or less in rivers and swamps. Photosynthetic algae, called phytoplankton, live in the photic zone.

What lives in the abyssal zone?

The abyssal zone is surprisingly made up of many different types of organisms, including microorganisms, crustaceans, molluscan (bivalves, snails, and cephalopods), different classes of fishes, and possibly some animals that have yet to be discovered.

Where is the abyssal zone?

The abyssal zone, also known as the abyssopelagic zone, is one of the levels into which the oceans are divided and it is found between 3,000 and 6,000 metres below the surface. In fact, the word abyssal comes from the Latin abyssalis, meaning abyss, something bottomless or extremely deep.

Are plankton retained in the euphotic zone?

What lives in the trench zone?

Marine life decreases with depth, both in abundance and biomass, but there is a wide range of metazoan organisms in the hadal zone, mostly benthos, including fish, sea cucumber, bristle worms, bivalves, isopods, sea anemones, amphipods, copepods, decapod crustaceans and gastropods.

What organisms live in the bathypelagic zone?

What Animals Live in the Bathyal Zone?

  • Fish in the Bathyl Zone. ••• Most fish that live in the bathyal zone are either black or red in color.
  • Eels. ••• The long, thin bodies of eels are adaptable to the pressures of the bathyal zone.
  • Crustaceans. •••
  • Squid. •••
  • Whales. •••

Which ocean zone has the most phytoplankton?

photic zone
Ninety percent of marine life lives in the photic zone, which is approximately two hundred meters deep. This includes phytoplankton (plants), including dinoflagellates, diatoms, cyanobacteria, coccolithophores, and cryptomonads.

In which zone of the open ocean would you find the most organisms that eat phytoplankton?

Plankton are primarily found in the epipelagic or photic zone, the area in the open ocean from the surface down to 200 m (650 ft).

Where in the ocean are phytoplankton found quizlet?

Phytoplankton are plant-like organisms such as small algae that are found in the bodies of water. They are capable of photosynthesis so they are usually found in the zone where sunlight can be reached. This zone is called the photic zone, which is in the shallow waters and the benthic zone.