Download Ocean Environment Project

Ocean Environment
Ocean Contents
• Ocean water is salty, SALINITY is a measure of
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the amount of dissolved salt contained in water.
Salt water is more dense then fresh water
Density is a measure of the amount of matter
packed into a given volume; the higher the salt
content the more density, the easier it is to float
Parts of the ocean can be saltier then other
parts if evaporation has taken place
As you go down in depth the salinity increases
Ocean Floor
Ocean Zones
Intertidal
Zone
Near
Shore
Open
Ocean
Intertidal Zone
• Intertidal Zone
– Changes conditions based on high or low tide
– Organisms must be able to survive in wet and
dry environments.
• At low tide: The intertidal zone is exposed to
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air, the environment is dry.
At high tide: the intertidal zone is covered in
water.
• What lives there?
-Crabs, mussels, starfish, seaweed
Near Shore: Coral Reefs
• Located over the continental shelf
• Coral Reefs
– Tropical regions
– Built from limestone deposits
– Contains 25% of all ocean life
– Only exist where sunlight can reach the ocean floor
What lives there?
-Algae, Anemone, Anemone Fish, Parrotfish, Moray Eel,
Nudibranch, Clams(giant clams), Coral, starfish, Sea
Urchins
Near Shore: Kelp Forests
• Kelp Forests
– A type of seaweed in cold water
– Can be 40m (length of an airline jet)
– Need sunlight to grow so found only in the
near shore environment
• What lives there?
-Worms, Starfish, Lobsters, Crabs, Abalones,
Octopus and Sea Otters.
Three Types of Organisms of
the Near Shore Environment
• Bottom Dwellers
– Plant like organisms; algae, seaweed, crabs,
corals, starfish, and shellfish
• Floaters
– Don’t swim, float; jellyfish
• Swimmers
– Fish, dolphins, whales and octopuses
– Theses animals swim
Open Ocean: Surface Zone
• Surface Zone:
– The top 200m of the open ocean.
– Has SUNLIGHT
– Contains less life then near shore because there
are no plants, rocks or reefs to protect life
• What lives there?
-Dolphins, Phytoplankton, Zooplankton and Jellyfish
Open Ocean: Deep Zone
• Deep Zone:
– Dark and cold
– NO SUNLIGHT = NO PLANTS
– Animals that live here must eat each other to
survive or eat food that floats down from the
surface
– Most species glow in the dark at this stage
• What lives there?
-Whales, lantern fish, Hatchet Fish, Mid-water Shrimp,
Angelfish, Gulper Eel, Rattail, Giant Squid
Deep Ocean: Hydrothermal
Vents
• Hydrothermal Vents:
-Openings in Earth’s crust
-Water seeps into cracks in the ocean floor
and is heated by magma. Heated water
rises and gushes into the ocean
- Organisms survive here from the bacteria
• What lives there?
-Bacteria, tubeworms, crabs, fish, shrimp
Estuaries and Wetlands
1. Estuaries
2. Wetlands
• Salt marshes
-what lives there
• Mangrove forests
-what lives there