Ocean Life and Resources

Ocean Life Zones

Upwelling• Upwelling: the movement

of deep, cold, and nutrient-rich water to the surface.

• Organisms sink when they die. But these dead organisms are nutrient rich. They must be brought to the surface for other organisms to have food.

• Sunlight is also a key factor.

Plankton

• Plankton: the mass of mostly microscopic organisms that float or drift freely in the waters of aquatic (freshwater and marine) environments. (Algae and phytoplankton).

• The basis of all life in the ocean.

• Make oxygen for us to breath.

Nekton: all organisms that swim actively in open water, independent of currents. (Fish, sharks, whales, squids, octopus).

Pelagic zone: the region of an ocean or body of fresh water above the benthic zone.

Benthos: organisms that live at the bottom of oceans or bodies of fresh water. (Sea urchins, Sea stars, sea cucumbers, sand dollars, crabs, lobsters, shrimp).

Benthic zone: the bottom region of oceans and bodies of fresh water.

Benthic Subzones• Intertidal and Sublittoral Zone: zones where most life is

found.

• Bathyl Zone: Not much life can survive here but squid, octopus, and whales can flourish.

• The abyssal zone has no sunlight because it begins at a depth of 4,000 m and extends to a depth of 6,000 m.

• The hadal zone is confined to the ocean trenches, which are deeper than 6,000 m below the surface of the water.

• Both abyssal and hadal zones have very few life forms but some life does exist.

Pelagic Subzones

• Neritic Zone: Area above the continental shelf. Most pelagic life is found here.

• Oceanic Zone: Essentially everywhere else in the ocean above the sea floor. Separated into 4 more subzones by depth.

• Staring at the Shallowest: Epipelagic, Mesopelagic, Bathypelagic, and Abyssopelagic.

Resources

• Food• Minerals• Fresh water (through desalination)• Oil and natural gas

Pollution

• Sediment pollution: Too much sediment carried by rivers into the oceans cans suffocate oysters and crabs.

• Agricultural pollution (nitrates and phosphates) –leads to algal blooms. Algae die and take oxygen when they decompose. This creates dead zones where no life is found.

• Toxic pollution: Chemicals, oil, gas.

Deepwater Horizon

Other Oil Spills