Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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 marine pelagic environment is the largest aquatic habitat on Earth, occupying 1,370 million cubic kilometres (330 million cubic miles), and is the habitat for 11% of known fish species. The oceans have a mean depth of 4,000 metres (2.5 miles). About 98% of the total water volume is below 100 metres (330 ft), and 75% is below 1,000 metres ...
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.
Pelagic habitats are intrinsically shifting and ephemeral, depending on what ocean currents are doing. Marine habitats can be modified by their inhabitants. Some marine organisms, like corals , kelp , mangroves and seagrasses , are ecosystem engineers which reshape the marine environment to the point where they create further habitat for other ...
Pelagic marine systems regulate the global climate, contribute to the water cycle, maintain biodiversity, provide food and energy resources, and create opportunities for recreation and tourism. [48] Economically, marine systems support billions of dollars worth of capture fisheries, aquaculture, offshore oil and gas, and trade and shipping.
The biological community of the mesopelagic zone has adapted to a low-light environment. [16] This is a very efficient ecosystem with many organisms recycling the organic matter sinking from the epipelagic zone [ 17 ] resulting in very little organic carbon making it to deeper ocean waters.
Layers of the pelagic zone. The bathypelagic zone or bathyal zone (from Greek βαθύς (bathýs), deep) is the part of the open ocean that extends from a depth of 1,000 to 4,000 m (3,300 to 13,000 ft) below the ocean surface. It lies between the mesopelagic above and the abyssopelagic below.
Pelagic zones. The ocean can be conceptualized as zones, depending on depth, and presence or absence of sunlight.Nearly all life forms in the ocean depend on the photosynthetic activities of phytoplankton and other marine plants to convert carbon dioxide into organic carbon, which is the basic building block of organic matter.