Marine Environments

What are the major life zones in the ocean and along the coast?

Objectives

Students will be able to:1. Identify the major marine life

zones.2. Visualize the zones

geographically.3. Describe the characteristics of the

life zones.

Motivation

What part of the ocean do you think contains the most life? The least life?

Major Marine Life Zones

1. Supratidal zone- an area of the upper beach that gets a fine mist of salt spray from the crashing waves.

Contains beach plants, grasses, shrubs, and trees.

Supratidal Zone

2. Intertidal zone- the turbulent area between high tide and low tide. This is where clams, mussels, sea worms,

and seaweeds live. The long line of seaweed called the

strandline marks the high tide on beaches.

Intertidal Zone

3. Subtidal zone- the area below the intertidal zone. This zone includes the surf zone, an area of turbulence.

Fish , crabs, sea stars, and sea urchins live in the area.

Subtidal Zone

3. Neritic zone- lies above the continental shelf, the shallow part of the seafloor that surrounds the continents.

This is the main area for commercial fishing.

4. Oceanic zone- extends beyond the neritic zone and includes most of the open sea.

Together the neritic and the oceanic zones make up the largest marine life zone (the Pelagic zone). Photic zone- closest to the surface Aphotic zone- no light penetrates

5. Benthic zone- includes the entire ocean floor, from the intertidal zone to the ocean basin.

Organisms living here exhibit unique adaptations to conditions on the ocean floor.

Marine Life Zones

Summary

The ocean contains several life zones that are characterized by particular communities of plants and animals that are adapted to live in those environments.

HW

Please keep up with the reading in the textbook:

Tonight you should be reading pages 60-67.

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