Ocean Zones
Dana Desonie, Ph.D.
Say Thanks to the Authors
Click http://www.ck12.org/saythanks
(No sign in required)
To access a customizable version of this book, as well as other
interactive content, visit www.ck12.org
CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit organization with a mission to
reduce the cost of textbook materials for the K-12 market both
in the U.S. and worldwide. Using an open-content, web-based
collaborative model termed the FlexBook®, CK-12 intends to
pioneer the generation and distribution of high-quality educational
content that will serve both as core text as well as provide an
adaptive environment for learning, powered through the FlexBook
Platform®.
Copyright © 2015 CK-12 Foundation, www.ck12.org
The names “CK-12” and “CK12” and associated logos and the
terms “FlexBook®” and “FlexBook Platform®” (collectively
“CK-12 Marks”) are trademarks and service marks of CK-12
Foundation and are protected by federal, state, and international
laws.
Any form of reproduction of this book in any format or medium,
in whole or in sections must include the referral attribution link
http://www.ck12.org/saythanks (placed in a visible location) in
addition to the following terms.
Except as otherwise noted, all CK-12 Content (including CK-12
Curriculum Material) is made available to Users in accordance
with the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 3.0
Unported (CC BY-NC 3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc/3.0/), as amended and updated by Creative Commons from time to time (the “CC License”), which is incorporated
herein by this reference.
Complete terms can be found at http://www.ck12.org/terms.
Printed: February 8, 2015
AUTHOR
Dana Desonie, Ph.D.
www.ck12.org
C HAPTER
Chapter 1. Ocean Zones
1
Ocean Zones
• Identify and describe the vertical and horizontal ocean zones.
There’s a trench in the bottom of the sea. Would you like to visit it?
In 1960, two men in a specially designed submarine called the Trieste descended into a submarine trench called the
Challenger Deep (10,910 meters). The depth of this dive remains a record. No craft exists today that can reach that
depth. Would you like to go to the bottom of the ocean in that vessel?
Divisions of the Ocean
Oceanographers divide the ocean into zones both vertically and horizontally.
Vertical Divisions
To better understand regions of the ocean, scientists define the water column by depth. They divide the entire ocean
into two zones vertically, based on light level. Large lakes are divided into similar regions.
• Sunlight only penetrates the sea surface to a depth of about 200 m, creating the photic zone ("photic" means
light). Organisms that photosynthesize depend on sunlight for food and so are restricted to the photic zone.
Since tiny photosynthetic organisms, known as phytoplankton, supply nearly all of the energy and nutrients to
the rest of the marine food web, most other marine organisms live in or at least visit the photic zone.
1
www.ck12.org
FIGURE 1.1
Vertical and horizontal ocean zones.
• In the aphotic zone there is not enough light for photosynthesis. The aphotic zone makes up the majority of
the ocean, but has a relatively small amount of its life, both in diversity of type and in numbers. The aphotic
zone is subdivided based on depth ( Figure 1.1).
The average depth of the ocean is 3,790 m, a lot more shallow than the deep trenches but still an incredible depth for
sea creatures to live in. What makes it so hard to live at the bottom of the ocean? The three major factors that make
the deep ocean hard to inhabit are the absence of light, low temperature, and extremely high pressure.
Horizontal Divisions
The seabed is divided into the zones described above, but ocean itself is also divided horizontally by distance from
the shore.
• Nearest to the shore lies the intertidal zone (also called the littoral zone), the region between the high and
low tidal marks. The hallmark of the intertidal is change: water is in constant motion in the form of waves,
tides, and currents. The land is sometimes under water and sometimes exposed.
• The neritic zone is from low tide mark and slopes gradually downward to the edge of the seaward side of the
continental shelf. Some sunlight penetrates to the seabed here.
• The oceanic zone is the entire rest of the ocean from the bottom edge of the neritic zone, where sunlight does
not reach the bottom. The sea bed and water column are subdivided further, as seen in the figure above.
Vocabulary
•
•
•
•
•
2
photic zone: The topmost layer of the water column where sunlight can penetrate.
aphotic zone: The layer of the water column where sunlight does not penetrate.
intertidal zone: The ocean zone between the high tide and low tide lines.
neritic zone: The ocean zone from the low tide line to the edge of the continental shelf.
oceanic zone: The ocean zone makes up all of the ocean from the edge of the continental shelf outward.
www.ck12.org
Chapter 1. Ocean Zones
Summary
• The most important vertical distinction in the oceans is between the small surface zone that has light, the
photic zone, and the entire rest of the ocean without light, the aphotic zone.
• The ocean is divided into horizontal zones based on the depth of water beneath: the intertidal, neritic, and
oceanic.
• Why does most of the life in the oceans live in or at least visit the surface?
Making Connections
MEDIA
Click image to the left or use the URL below.
Practice
Use this resource to answer the questions that follow.
The Layers of the Ocean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEh9cx-b8Og
MEDIA
Click image to the left or use the URL below.
URL: http://www.ck12.org/flx/render/embeddedobject/4769
1. Where can 90% of the of the ocean’s life be found?
2. What is the twilight zone?
3. What is the dark zone?
4. Why is little life found in the dark zone?
5. What is the abyss?
6. What are trenches?
Review
1. Why is there so little life at the bottom of the ocean?
2. Compare and contrast the intertidal, neritic, and oceanic zones.
3. Do you think that the line between the photic and aphotic zones is solid and that life is either in one or the other,
or do you think the divisions are more gradational? Why?
3
www.ck12.org
•
•
•
•
•
photic zone: The topmost layer of the water column where sunlight can penetrate.
aphotic zone: The layer of the water column where sunlight does not penetrate.
intertidal zone: The ocean zone between the high tide and low tide lines.
neritic zone: The ocean zone from the low tide line to the edge of the continental shelf.
oceanic zone: The ocean zone makes up all of the ocean from the edge of the continental shelf outward.
References
1. K. Aainsqatsi. . Public Domain
4