Transcript Life Away From Shore - Rutherford County Schools, NC

Life Away From Shore
Ocean life differs farther away
from shore.
Conditions in the Neritic Zone
 The
shallow water over the continental
shelf receives sunlight and a steady
supply of nutrients washed from the
land into the ocean.
 The light and nutrients enable large
plantlike algae to grow.
Life in the Neritic Zone

More organisms live
here than in any
other ocean zone.
 B/C of the supply of
nutrients.
 Nutrients are
washed off of land
and supplied by
upwelling currents.
Coral Reef

Coral reefs are created by colonies of tiny
coral animals.
 Coral reefs only form shallow, tropical ocean
waters.
 Atoll: a ringed shaped reef surrounding a
lagoon.
 Coral reef animals include: octopuses,
lobsters, shrimp, and fish… including Nemo!
Kelp Forests

Kelp: large heavy
algae that grow in
parts of the neritic
zone.
 Kelp forests grow in
cold neritic waters
where the ocean
has a rocky floor.
 Kelp use sunlight
and dissolved gases
in the neritic zone to
produce their own
food.

B/C of their size,
kelp require the
rocky bottom of the
ocean floor to
anchor to and air
bladders to keep
them upright in the
water.
 Kelp forest animals:
young whales, sea
otters, and sea
urchins.
Conditions in the Open Ocean
 Open
ocean begins at the edge of the
continental shelf.
 Only a small part of the open ocean
receives sunlight.
 Dissolved nutrients are less abundant in
the open ocean.
Divisions of the Open Ocean

Surface Zone: only
part of the open
ocean that receives
enough sunlight to
support the growth
of algae.
 Transition Zone:
colder and darker
than surface zone.

Deep Zone: few
organisms live here
b/c of cold, dark
conditions.
 Bioluminescence:
ability of living things
to produce their own
light.
 Limited food supply
causes special
adaptations.
Hydrothermal Vents
 Hydrothermal
Vent: area where HOT
ocean water rises out of cracks in the
ocean floor.
 Only deep zone environment that supports
a variety of ocean life.
 Bacteria at the vents use chemo synthesis
to produce their own food. (Producers of
the vents.)
 Organisms include: giant clams, tube
worms, and crabs.
Hydrothermal Vent