Download Open Ocean Notes

Open Ocean Notes
1. How is the open ocean different from the neritic zone?
 Less sunlight—Surface Zone (200 m) is only layer the sun
penetrates
 The water has fewer nutrients
 Less sunlight + fewer nutrients = LESS FOOD FOR ANIMALS
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Where is algae (phytoplankton) found in the open ocean?
The surface zone
Algae is the base of the open ocean food web
Many open ocean animals stay in deep water during the day
and surface at night to feed.
Open Ocean Notes
THE DEEP ZONE
1. What is the deep zone like?
 Very cold and dark
 Food is limited and difficult to find
2. How do animals in the deep zone survive?
 Bioluminescence is used to attract prey or confuse
predators.
 Many have evolved to be very good hunters with big
teeth and big mouths so prey can’t escape from them.
Open Ocean Notes
Hydrothermal Vents
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Hydrothermal Vent—OCEAN WATER
sinks through cracks in the ocean floor
gets heated by magma
then rises again through a different crack in the ocean floor
Extremely HOT!
2. What makes a Hydrothermal Vent environment so different from
the other parts of the deep ocean?
 Bacteria feed on chemical nutrients from the vents
(chemosynthesis)
 Bacteria are the base of the food web
 Tube worms, giant clams, and scuttle crabs live there!