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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 pelagic (water column) environment of the continental shelf constitutes the neritic zone, and the benthic (sea floor) province of the shelf is the sublittoral zone. [35] The shelves make up less than 10% of the ocean, and a rough estimate suggests that only about 30% of the continental shelf sea floor receives enough sunlight to allow ...
The mesopelagic zone (Greek μέσον, middle), also known as the middle pelagic or twilight zone, is the part of the pelagic zone that lies between the photic epipelagic and the aphotic bathypelagic zones. [1] It is defined by light, and begins at the depth where only 1% of incident light reaches and ends where there is no light; the depths ...
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. It is the region of open sea beyond the edge of ...
Coastal fish. Schooling threadfin, a coastal species. Coastal fish, also called inshore fish or neritic fish, inhabit the sea between the shoreline and the edge of the continental shelf. Since the continental shelf is usually less than 200 metres (660 ft) deep, it follows that pelagic coastal fish are generally epipelagic fish, inhabiting the ...
Pelagic sediment or pelagite is a fine-grained sediment that accumulates as the result of the settling of particles to the floor of the open ocean, far from land. These particles consist primarily of either the microscopic, calcareous or siliceous shells of phytoplankton or zooplankton ; clay -size siliciclastic sediment ; or some mixture of these.
The epipelagic zone, otherwise known as the sunlit zone or the euphotic zone, goes to a depth of about 200 meters (656 feet). It is the depth of water to which sunlight is able to penetrate. Although it is only 2 to 3 percent of the entire ocean, the epipelagic zone is home to a massive number of organisms. [3]
The abyssal zone or abyssopelagic zone is a layer of the pelagic zone of the ocean. The word abyss comes from the Greek word ἄβυσσος (ábussos), meaning "bottomless". [1] At depths of 4,000–6,000 m (13,000–20,000 ft), [2] this zone remains in perpetual darkness. [3][4] It covers 83% of the total area of the ocean and 60% of Earth's ...