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Ocean Characteristics and Habitats

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Ocean Characteristics and Habitats Ocean Ocean Characteristics Characteristics and Habitats ● Salinity ● Depth ● Temperature ● Pressure Ocean Characteristics - Salinity 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 - Pressure Ocean Characteristics - Temperature ● Water pressure is the _________ of the water ● Temperature: the temperature _________ at above a specific depth of water different depths ● Pressure _________ as depth _________. ○ Deep ocean is _________ than shallower ● Pressure on the ocean floor is areas because _________ doesn’t reach ___ greater than pressure at deep areas. sea level. ○ Warm water is less _________ than cold ● A diver can safely withstand water and tends to stay at the surface pressure at 40m below sea level Life in the Ocean Ocean Habitats • Organisms that live in the ocean are • Life in the Ocean classified into three main groups based on – Examples of organisms: 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 Zones and Conditions Ocean Ecosystems • You can think of the ocean as a huge • Ocean Ecosystems _________________ that includes living and – Conditions of the ocean change greatly nonliving things. In some ways, the ocean with distance from the _________. For community resembles a human city or town. example, _________ easily penetrates the • Typically, cities and towns are divided into shallow ocean waters near the shoreline to several _________. Some zones consist light the ocean floor. mostly of houses and apartment buildings. Other zones have stores and shops or factories and office buildings. Ocean Ecosystems Ocean Ecosystems • The ocean is divided into three _________ life zones: intertidal zone, neritic zone, and • Water depth generally_________ with the oceanic zone. distance from the shoreline. • The main factors that determine the location of each life zone are water _________ and • Changes in depth are accompanied by distance from the shoreline. changes in conditions such as pressure, • Each life zone differs in conditions such as sunlight, and temperature. temperature, pressure, and the amount of • As the environment changes, the organisms sunlight it receives. able to _________ in each environment also • Organisms living in each zone are _________ to that region’s conditions. change. Ocean Habitats - Intertidal Zone Ocean Habitats - Zones • The intertidal zone is the • Ocean zones include the intertidal zone, the _________ area that falls neritic zone, and the open-ocean zone. 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 Ocean Habitats - Intertidal Zone intertidal zone have ______________ to prevent them from being washed into the ocean by waves. ● 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 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 • The _________ zone is the ocean area that _________. extends from the intertidal zone to the edge • These conditions allow the neritic zone to of the continental _________. provide home to _________ _________ of organisms than either of the other life zones. Ocean Habitats - Oceanic Zone Ocean Habitats - Neritic Zone ∙ The _________ zone is made up of the • Two major ecosystems within the neritic zone _________ waters of the ocean. ∙ This zone extends from the ocean’s are: _________ to its deepest waters. – Coral reefs – Kelp forests Ocean Habitats - Oceanic Zone ∙ Sunlight can penetrate only the top ________ Ocean Habitats - Oceanic Zone of the oceanic zone. ∙ Some organisms, ∙ Thus, all _________, such as phytoplankton, such as hatchet fish and most consumers live in these surface waters. and krill, _________ ∙ Whales, dolphins, squids, jellyfish, and fish between the surface live in the oceanic zone. 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 Ocean Habitats - Abyss ∙ The floor of the deep ∙ Worms, bacteria, sea urchins, and some fish ocean is called the live in this zone. Many of these organisms survive by eating _________ material that _________. High rains down from the surface. Whole pressure, low ecosystems also survive on dead whales and temperature, and the other marine life that _________ to the ocean absence of floor. _________ characterize this area. Ocean Habitats - Abyss Upwelling • In some parts of the abyss are deep-sea • In most parts of the ocean, surface waters do ________________ vent communities. not usually _________ with deep ocean • Hydrothermal vents are cracks in the ocean waters. However, mixing sometimes occurs crust that release mineral-rich water that has when winds cause upwelling. been heated by Earth’s interior. – Upwelling is the movement of cold water • Water temperatures near hydrothermal vents upward from the deep ocean. As can reach up to 360oC (_________). _________ blow away the warm surface • Bacteria near the vents make food using water, cold water _________ to replace it. chemicals in the vent water. • Tubeworms and clams near the vents use these bacteria for food. Upwelling Where River Meets Ocean • Upwelling brings up tiny ocean organisms, • Other important environments along the _________, and other nutrients from the ocean’s edge are estuaries. ____________ deeper layers of the water. Without this are coastal inlets or bays where freshwater motion, the surface waters of the open ocean from rivers mixes with the salty ocean water. would be very scarce in _________. • 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..
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