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Stratified layers are a barrier to the mixing of water, which impacts the exchange of heat, carbon, oxygen and other nutrients. [1] The surface mixed layer is the uppermost layer in the ocean and is well mixed by mechanical (wind) and thermal (convection) effects. Climate change is causing the upper ocean stratification to increase.
The oceanic zone is typically defined as the area of the ocean lying beyond the continental shelf (e.g. the neritic zone), but operationally is often referred to as beginning where the water depths drop to below 200 metres (660 ft), seaward from the coast into the open ocean with its pelagic zone.
Deep ocean water is divided into layers or zones, each with typical features of salinity, pressure, temperature and marine life, according to their depth. Lying along the top of the abyssal plain is the abyssal zone , whose lower boundary lies at about 6,000 m (20,000 ft).
The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided ... into up to five different layers (illustrated in the diagram), ...
Diagram of the ocean carbon cycle showing the relative size of stocks (storage) and fluxes [126] Photosynthesis in the surface ocean releases oxygen and consumes carbon dioxide. Phytoplankton, a type of microscopic free-floating algae, controls this process. After the plants have grown, oxygen is consumed and carbon dioxide released, as a ...
The surface mixed layer is the uppermost layer in the ocean and is well mixed by mechanical (wind) and thermal (convection) effects. Due to wind driven movement of surface water away from and towards land masses, upwelling and downwelling can occur, breaking through the stratification in those areas, where cold nutrient-rich water rises and ...
Geologically, an ocean is an area of oceanic crust covered by water. Oceanic crust is the thin layer of solidified volcanic basalt that covers the Earth's mantle. Continental crust is thicker but less dense. From this perspective, the Earth has three oceans: the World Ocean, the Caspian Sea, [citation needed] and the Black Sea.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and introduction to Oceanography.. Thermohaline circulation. Oceanography (from Ancient Greek ὠκεανός (ōkeanós) 'ocean' and γραφή (graphḗ) 'writing'), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology.