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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 .
Marine snow is organic material that has fallen from upper waters into the deep sea. [ 7 ] In 1960, the bathyscaphe Trieste descended to the bottom of the Mariana Trench near Guam , at 10,911 m (35,797 ft; 6.780 mi), the deepest known spot in any ocean.
For the deep-sea ecosystem, the death of a whale is the most important event. A dead whale can bring hundreds of tons of organic matter to the bottom. Whale fall community progresses through three stages: [32] Mobile scavenger stage: Big and mobile deep-sea animals arrive at the site almost immediately after whales fall on the bottom.
Deglaciation influences sea level because water previously held on land in solid form turns into liquid water and eventually drains into the ocean. The recent period of intense deglaciation has resulted in an average global sea level rise of 1.7 mm/year for the entire 20th century, and 3.2 mm/year over the past two decades, a very rapid increase.
Snow clouds usually occur in the context of larger weather systems, the most important of which is the low-pressure area, which typically incorporate warm and cold fronts as part of their circulation. Two additional and locally productive sources of snow are lake-effect (also sea-effect) storms and elevation effects, especially in mountains.
It often forms as deep mixed layers at the depth of the thermocline. [5] The mode water in the mesopelagic has residency times on decadal or century scales. [ 5 ] The longer overturning times contrast with the daily and shorter scales that a variety of animals move vertically through the zone and sinking of various debris.
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.
The relatively few investigations to the Antarctic deep sea have shown the presence of deep-water habitats, including hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, and mud volcanoes. [56] Other than the Antarctic Benthic Deep-Sea Biodiversity Project (ANDEEP) cruises, little work has been done in the deep sea. [56] There are more species waiting to be ...