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The abyssal zone extends from 4,000 metres (13,123 ft) to 6,000 metres (19,685 ft) or 6,500 metres (21,325 ft), depending on the authority. The hadal zone refers to the greatest depths, deeper than the abyssal zone. Some twilight occurs in the mesopelagic zone, but creatures below the mesopelagic must be able to live in complete darkness. [5] [6]
Microbial decomposition of dead organisms begins here and continues once the bodies sink to the aphotic zone where they form the most important source of nutrients for deep sea organisms. [5] The depth of the photic zone depends on the transparency of the water. If the water is very clear, the photic zone can become very deep.
The deep trenches or fissures that plunge down thousands of meters below the ocean floor (for example, the mid-oceanic trenches such as the Mariana Trench in the Pacific) are almost unexplored. [6] Previously, only the bathyscaphe Trieste , the remote control submarine KaikÅ and the Nereus have been able to descend to these depths.
Environments in which subsurface life has been found [1]. The deep biosphere is the part of the biosphere that resides below the first few meters of the ocean's surface. It extends 10 kilometers below the continental surface and 21 kilometers below the sea surface, at temperatures that may reach beyond 120 °C (248 °F) [2] which is comparable to the maximum temperature where a metabolically ...
Depending on the water-body, the benthic zone may include areas that are only a few inches below the surface. The continental shelf is a gently sloping benthic region that extends away from the land mass. At the continental shelf edge, usually about 200 metres (660 ft) deep, the gradient greatly increases and is known as the continental slope.
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.
Scientists thought that Lake Enigma was frozen from top to bottom. Then they discovered that water—and mysterious lifeforms—existed 11 meters below the surface.
Life forms live in every part of the Earth's biosphere, including soil, hot springs, inside rocks at least 19 km (12 mi) deep underground, and at least 64 km (40 mi) high in the atmosphere. [26] [27] [28] Marine life under many forms has been found in the deepest reaches of the world ocean while much of the deep sea remains to be explored. [29]