ANSWERS for Chapter 14 Study Guide: Ocean Zones
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Learning about the Ocean
1. 70% OR 75%
2. HMS Challenger marked the beginning of the modern science of
oceanography
3. Ancient people study the ocean to learn about sources of food, learning
about routes for trade and travel, and curiosity of the unknown.
4. It is difficult to study the ocean floor because it is very cold, very dark, and
under high pressure.
5. Sonar is a type of technology that uses sound waves to determine the depth
of the ocean floor.
6. Types of technology:
SCUBA, Sonar, Submersibles, Remote underwater manipulators,
Satellites, Deep Flight aviators
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The Ocean Floor
1. Be able to label the 7 parts of the ocean floor: Continental shelf, continental
slope, abyssal plain, trench, mid-ocean ridge, seamount, volcanic island
2. The Deepest Trench/Place is the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean which is
11km deep.
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Life in the Ocean Floor
1. Scientists classify marine organisms according to where they live and how
they move.
2. The three categories of ocean organisms are plankton, benthos, and nekton.
3. Plankton are organisms that float and are carried by the waves of currents;
benthos are organisms that live on the ocean floor; nekton are freeswimming animals.
4. Examples of plankton: crustaceans, young fish, krill, algae, mullusks
Examples of benthos: crabs, lobster, sponges
Examples of nekton: dolphin, stingray, fish, shark
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Ocean Zones
1. Intertidal, Neritic, Open-Ocean (Surface, Transition, Deep)
2. Intertidal: an area that stretches from the highest high tide line on land out
to the point of the lowest low tide on the continental shelf. Neritic: the area
that extends to the lowest low tide line out to the edge of the continental
shelf. Open-Ocean: the deepest, darkest area of the ocean beyond the edge
of the continental shelf.
3. The Neritic ocean zone is full of most varieties of life.
4. The Open Ocean zone has the least amount of ocean organisms.
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Intertidal Zone
1. The challenges that inhabit the intertidal zone are the amount of salt
changes, temperature changes, water level changes, and pounding waves.
2. The 6 habitats of that can be found in the intertidal zone are:
- Estuaries- Where fresh water meets salt water, where rivers enter
oceans, and great place for animals to feed, rest and nurse their young.
- Mangrove Forests – Mangrove trees with arching roots, safe place for
young animals, and offers protection form wind and waves.
- Salt Marshes – Very muddy, rich in nutrients, hatching area, and
abundance of Cordgrass which provides food and protection from waves.
- Sandy Shores- Sand is always moving and animals burrow underground
for protection.
- Rocky Shores – has strong winds, crashing waves, harsh sun, and animals
must be able to hold tightly to the rocks.
- Tide Pools – “puddles” are left behind when the tide goes out, big
changes in temperature, and salt in the water (salinity) and animals must
wait a long time for food.
Neritic Zone
1. The conditions in the neritic zone are shallow water, lots of sunlight,
nutrients washed form land, large plant like algae, and many plankton .
2. The shallow water allows sunlight through, and there is a steady supply of
nutrients from the land.
3. The Coral Reefs and Kelp Forests are the two habitats.
- Coral reefs: made of living coral animals and the hard outer layer is left
behind when they die. They only form in warm, shallow, clean, clear, and
sunlit tropical oceans. Atoll is a ring-shaped reef surrounding a shallow
lagoon.
- Kelp forests – large, heavy algae that produce their own food and grow in
cold, neritic water over a rocky ocean floor.
Open Ocean Zone
1. The conditions of each layer:
- Surface Zone: sunlit, algae grow here, more organism than the deeper
zones.
- Transition Zone: ends about 1 km below the surface of the water and
conditions begin to change here. (colder, darker, more pressure)
- Deep Zone: Very cold, dark, high pressure with little food. Fewer
organism live here.
2. Organisms that inhabit this zone are bioluminescent (make their own
light), good hunters, large mouth and eyes, and have sharp teeth.
3. A hydrothermal vent is when hot water rises up from cracks in the ocean
floor providing an environment that supports many different life forms.
4. It is unusual because hydrothermal vents provide food for bacteria.