The epipelagic zone (or upper open ocean) is the part of the ocean where there is enough sunlight for algae to utilize photosynthesis (the process by which organisms use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into food).
What is the meaning of epipelagic?
: of, relating to, or constituting the part of the oceanic zone into which enough light penetrates for photosynthesis.
Why is it called the epipelagic zone?
It extends from the surface down to 200 m. The word epipelagic comes from the Greek words epi meaning “at the surfaces,” and pelagikos meaning “of the sea”. This zone is known as the Sunlight Zone because it is in this zone where enough sun rays can penetrate the waters for photosynthesis to occur.
What is another name for epipelagic zone?
The photic zone, euphotic zone, epipelagic zone, or sunlight zone is the uppermost layer of a body of water that receives sunlight, allowing phytoplankton to perform photosynthesis.
What layer is the epipelagic zone?
The top surface layer is called the epipelagic zone, and is sometimes referred to as the “ocean skin” or “sunlight zone.” This layer interacts with the wind and waves, which mixes the water and distributes the warmth. At the base of this layer is the thermocline.
What are the characteristics of the epipelagic zone?
The epipelagic zone (or upper open ocean) is the part of the ocean where there is enough sunlight for algae to utilize photosynthesis (the process by which organisms use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into food). Generally speaking, this zone reaches from the sea surface down to approximately 200 m (650 feet).
How much light is in the epipelagic zone?
From the base of the epipelagic zone to a depth of about 850 meters, there is still enough light for a human to see. The second zone between 200 meters and 1,000 meters is known as the “twilight zone”. Some light penetrates as far as 1000 meters down into the ocean.
What are the 3 main ocean zones?
The ocean is generally divided into three zones which are named based on the amount of sunlight they receive: the euphotic, dysphotic, and aphotic zones.
- Euphotic Zone (Sunlight Zone or Epipelagic Zone)
- Dysphotic Zone (Twilight Zone or Mesopelagic Zone)
- Aphotic Zone (Bathypelagic, Abyssopelagic, and Hadopelagic Zones)
What plants live in the epipelagic zone?
Epipelagic Zone [Sunlight]
Supported Plant Species: Seaweed or free-floating algae, red algae, green algae, brown algae, phytoplankton, angiosperms, mangroves, seagrass.
What are the 3 layers of the ocean?
The ocean has three primary layers. 2. The layers are the surface layer (sometimes referred to as the mixed layer), the thermocline and the deep ocean.
What are the 4 zones of the ocean?
There are four ocean zones: the Sunlight zone, the Twilight zone, the Midnight zone, and the Abyssal zone.
What are the 7 zones of the ocean?
The 5 Ocean Zones And The Creatures That Live Within Them
- The Sunlight Zone (Euphotic Zone) The sunlight zone gets its name because this is where most of the visible light is.
- The Twilight Zone (Dysphotic Zone)
- The Midnight Zone (Aphotic Zone)
- The Abyss (Abyssal Zone)
- The Trenches (Hadal Zone)
What are the 5 main zones in the ocean?
The ocean water column is made up of five zones: the sunlight zone (epipelagic), the twilight zone (mesopelagic), the midnight zone (bathypelagic), the abyssal zone (abyssopelagic) and the hadal zone (trenches).
What’s the deepest zone of the ocean?
The deepest part of the ocean is called the Challenger Deep and is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench, which runs several hundred kilometers southwest of the U.S. territorial island of Guam. Challenger Deep is approximately 10,935 meters (35,876 feet) deep.
Is the epipelagic zone salty?
Answer and Explanation: The salinity of the epipelagic zone ranges from 36.5 grams of salt per kilogram of water to 35.5 grams of salt per kilogram of water. The epipelagic zone covers the smallest amount of depth, meaning there is little change for depth-related variance in salinity.
What zone is the ocean floor?
The benthic zone is ocean floor all the way from the low-tide mark outward to the deepest trenches on the ocean floor. Animals have been found living in all areas of the ocean. Most plant and animal life lives on the continental shelf that is relatively shallow and sunlight penetrates the water to support plant life.
How many organisms are in the epipelagic zone?
More animals are living in the epipelagic zone than one can count. This zone of the ocean is home to 90 percent or more of all the animal species that live in the ocean. There are thousands, possibly millions of different animal species that live in this zone.
What are the challenges of living in the epipelagic zone?
Organisms living in the epipelagic face one major problem. That problem being certain organisms are able to float and other aren’t. They are able to float if they have an adaptation that allows them to float.
Which zone receives no light from the sun?
The aphotic zone
The aphotic zone exists in depths below 1,000 meters. Sunlight does not penetrate to these depths and the zone is bathed in darkness.
Which zone receives light from the sun?
euphotic
The top zone is the euphotic or sunlit zone. This is the ocean zone that sunlight penetrates. Because this zone gets sunlight, photosynthesis can occur and plants can grow here. The sunlit zone goes down to about 660 feet.
What zone do sharks live in?
Deep sea sharks live below the photic zone of the ocean, primarily in an area known as the twilight zone between 200 and 1,000 meters deep, where light is too weak for photosynthesis. This extreme environment is limited in both sunlight and food.