Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The hadal zone, also known as the hadopelagic zone, is the deepest region of the ocean, lying within oceanic trenches. The hadal zone ranges from around 6 to 11 km (3.7 to 6.8 mi; 20,000 to 36,000 ft) below sea level , and exists in long, narrow, topographic V-shaped depressions.
Organisms in the abyssal zone rely on the natural processes of higher ocean layers. When animals from higher ocean levels die, their carcasses occasionally drift down to the abyssal zone, where organisms in the deep can feed on them. When a whale carcass falls down to the abyssal zone, this is called a whale fall. The carcass of the whale can ...
The only organisms that inhabit this zone are chemotrophs and predators that can withstand immense pressures, sometimes as high as 76 megapascals (750 atm; 11,000 psi). The hadal zone (named after Hades , the Greek god of the underworld) is a zone designated for the deepest trenches in the world, reaching depths of below 6,000 metres (20,000 ft).
The organic matter in the hadal zone is more quickly buried than in the abyssal zone, allowing it to avoid oxidative degradation and become available for subsurface microbes. This sedimentation of labile, organic matter is the reason why microbial communities distinct to the hadal zone may be observed globally.
Altogether, the pelagic zone occupies 1,330 million km 3 (320 million mi 3) with a mean depth of 3.68 km (2.29 mi) and maximum depth of 11 km (6.8 mi). [2] [3] [4] Pelagic life decreases as depth increases. The pelagic zone contrasts with the benthic and demersal zones at the bottom of the sea. The benthic zone is the ecological region at the ...
The following is a list of marine ecoregions, as defined by the WWF and The Nature Conservancy. The WWF/Nature Conservancy scheme groups the individual ecoregions into 12 marine realms, which represent the broad latitudinal divisions of polar, temperate, and tropical seas, with subdivisions based on ocean basins.
Cusk-eels live in temperate and tropical oceans throughout the world. They live close to the sea bottom, ranging from shallow water to the hadal zone.One species, Abyssobrotula galatheae, was recorded at the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench, making it the deepest recorded fish at 8,370 m (27,460 ft).
Siphonophores are most often pelagic organisms, yet level species are benthic. [11] Smaller, warm-water siphonophores typically live in the epipelagic zone and use their tentacles to capture zooplankton and copepods. [11] Larger siphonophores live in deeper waters, as they are generally longer and more fragile and must avoid strong currents.