Ocean
Characteristics and Habitats
Ocean Characteristics - Salinity
Ocean Characteristics
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Salinity
Depth
Temperature
Pressure
Ocean Characteristics - Salinity
● The ocean is the largest source of _________
on Earth
● Salinity is the _________ amount of
_________ salts in water.
● The salt in oceans comes from:
○ Eroding land
○ Volcanic emissions
○ Chemical reactions on the ocean floor
○ The atmosphere
Ocean Characteristics - Temperature
● Temperature: the temperature _________ at
different depths
○ Deep ocean is _________ than shallower
areas because _________ doesn’t reach
deep areas.
○ Warm water is less _________ than cold
water and tends to stay at the surface
Ocean Characteristics - Pressure
● Water pressure is the _________ of the water
above a specific depth of water
● Pressure _________ as depth _________.
● Pressure on the ocean floor is
___ greater than pressure at
sea level.
● A diver can safely withstand
pressure at 40m below sea
level
Life in the Ocean
• Organisms that live in the ocean are
classified into three main groups based on
how the organisms _________ and where
they generally make their home in the ocean.
• _________ are organisms that live on or near
the ocean bottom, sometimes attached to
surfaces.
• _________ are tiny organisms that are
moved by ocean currents.
• _________ are free-swimming organisms
that can move independently of currents.
Ocean Habitats
• Life in the Ocean
– Examples of organisms:
Ocean Zones and Conditions
Ocean Ecosystems
• You can think of the ocean as a huge
_________________ that includes living and
nonliving things. In some ways, the ocean
community resembles a human city or town.
• Typically, cities and towns are divided into
several _________. Some zones consist
mostly of houses and apartment buildings.
Other zones have stores and shops or
factories and office buildings.
• Ocean Ecosystems
– Conditions of the ocean change greatly
with distance from the _________. For
example, _________ easily penetrates the
shallow ocean waters near the shoreline to
light the ocean floor.
Ocean Ecosystems
• Water depth generally_________ with
distance from the shoreline.
• Changes in depth are accompanied by
changes in conditions such as pressure,
sunlight, and temperature.
• As the environment changes, the organisms
able to _________ in each environment also
change.
Ocean Ecosystems
• The ocean is divided into three _________
life zones: intertidal zone, neritic zone, and
the oceanic zone.
• The main factors that determine the location
of each life zone are water _________ and
distance from the shoreline.
• Each life zone differs in conditions such as
temperature, pressure, and the amount of
sunlight it receives.
• Organisms living in each zone are
_________ to that region’s conditions.
Ocean Habitats - Zones
• Ocean zones include the intertidal zone, the
neritic zone, and the open-ocean zone.
Ocean Habitats - Intertidal Zone
• The intertidal zone is the
_________ area that falls
between the high tidemark and
the low tide mark.
● Most organisms living here are adapted to
being _________ at high tide and exposed to
air at low tide.
● Some, such as sea anemones and sea stars
make their homes in tide _________, low
areas that remain filled water at low tide.
Ocean Habitats - Intertidal Zone
• Many organisms of the
intertidal zone have
______________ to prevent
them from being washed into
the ocean by waves.
Ocean Habitats - Intertidal Zone
● Crabs and clams, for example, burrow into
sand. Seaweeds have structures called
holdfasts that help them stay rooted.
Barnacles create tough shells that they
cement to rock in order to withstand waves.
Ocean Habitats - Neritic Zone
• The _________ zone is the ocean area that
extends from the intertidal zone to the edge
of the continental _________.
Ocean Habitats - Neritic Zone
• Water depth ranges from a few meters to
about _________.
• The shallow waters of the neritic zone allow
light to penetrate almost to the ocean floor.
• Temperatures and salinity also stay fairly
_________.
• These conditions allow the neritic zone to
provide home to _________ _________ of
organisms than either of the other life zones.
Ocean Habitats - Neritic Zone
• Two major ecosystems within the neritic zone
are:
– Coral reefs
– Kelp forests
Ocean Habitats - Oceanic Zone
∙ Sunlight can penetrate only the top ________
of the oceanic zone.
∙ Thus, all _________, such as phytoplankton,
and most consumers live in these surface
waters.
∙ Whales, dolphins, squids, jellyfish, and fish
live in the oceanic zone.
Ocean Habitats - Oceanic Zone
∙ The _________ zone is made up of the
_________ waters of the ocean.
∙ This zone extends from the ocean’s
_________ to its deepest waters.
Ocean Habitats - Oceanic Zone
∙ Some organisms,
such as hatchet fish
and krill, _________
between the surface
and deep waters of
this zone.
∙ Krill are tiny, shrimp-like animals that are an
important food source for whales and other
ocean animals.
Ocean Habitats - Abyss
∙ The floor of the deep
ocean is called the
_________. High
pressure, low
temperature, and the
absence of
_________
characterize this area.
Ocean Habitats - Abyss
∙ Worms, bacteria, sea urchins, and some fish
live in this zone. Many of these organisms
survive by eating _________ material that
rains down from the surface. Whole
ecosystems also survive on dead whales and
other marine life that _________ to the ocean
floor.
Ocean Habitats - Abyss
Upwelling
• In some parts of the abyss are deep-sea
________________ vent communities.
• Hydrothermal vents are cracks in the ocean
crust that release mineral-rich water that has
been heated by Earth’s interior.
• Water temperatures near hydrothermal vents
can reach up to 360oC (_________).
• Bacteria near the vents make food using
chemicals in the vent water.
• Tubeworms and clams near the vents use
these bacteria for food.
• In most parts of the ocean, surface waters do
not usually _________ with deep ocean
waters. However, mixing sometimes occurs
when winds cause upwelling.
– Upwelling is the movement of cold water
upward from the deep ocean. As
_________ blow away the warm surface
water, cold water _________ to replace it.
Upwelling
Where River Meets Ocean
• Upwelling brings up tiny ocean organisms,
_________, and other nutrients from the
deeper layers of the water. Without this
motion, the surface waters of the open ocean
would be very scarce in _________.
• Other important environments along the
ocean’s edge are estuaries. ____________
are coastal inlets or bays where freshwater
from rivers mixes with the salty ocean water.
• Water that is partly salty and partly fresh is
_________.
• Coastal _________ are found in and around
estuaries.
Where River Meets Ocean
• Along the coasts of the United States, most
wetlands are either _________ forests or salt
marshes.
• Mangrove swamps are found in southern
Florida and along the coast of the Gulf of
Mexico.
• Salt marshes are especially abundant along
the east coast from Massachusetts to Florida.