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In the deep ocean, marine snow (also known as "ocean dandruff") is a continuous shower of mostly organic detritus falling from the upper layers of the water column. It is a significant means of exporting energy from the light -rich photic zone to the aphotic zone below, which is referred to as the biological pump .
[1] [2] Conditions within the deep sea are a combination of low temperatures, darkness, and high pressure. [3] The deep sea is considered the least explored Earth biome as the extreme conditions make the environment difficult to access and explore. [4] Organisms living within the deep sea have a variety of adaptations to survive in these ...
In deep water, marine snow is a continuous shower of mostly organic detritus falling from the upper layers of the water column. Its origin lies in activities within the productive photic zone. Marine snow includes dead or dying plankton, protists , fecal matter, sand, soot and other inorganic dust. The "snowflakes" grow over time and may reach ...
Deep sea food webs are complex, and aspects of the system are poorly understood. Typically, predator-prey interactions within the deep are compiled by direct observation (likely from remotely operated underwater vehicles), analysis of stomach contents, and biochemical analysis. Stomach content analysis is the most common method used, but it is ...
This is a major process in the ocean and without vertical migration it wouldn't be nearly as efficient. The deep ocean gets most of its nutrients from the higher water column when they sink down in the form of marine snow. This is made up of dead or dying animals and microbes, fecal matter, sand and other inorganic material.
Snowflakes, and snow in general, are actually able to make the world around them quiet too. The science of silent snowflakes: The most common type of snowflake, called a dendrite, has six "arms ...
Previously, benthic oceanographers assumed that vent organisms were dependent on marine snow, as deep-sea organisms are. This would leave them dependent on plant life and thus the sun. Some hydrothermal vent organisms do consume this "rain", but with only such a system, life forms would be sparse.
The deep biosphere is an ecosystem of organisms and their living space in the deep subsurface. [3] For the seafloor, an operational definition of deep subsurface is the region that is not bioturbated by animals; this is generally about a meter or more below the surface. [4] On continents, it is below a few meters, not including soils. [5]