marine habitats
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
MARINE HABITATS
What is a habitat?
an environment that has all necessary requirements for an organism to live.
Figure 1. Divisions of the marine environment.
Four major types of Ocean ecosystems :
Open Ocean
Deep Sea
Upwelling region
Continental Shelf
Open Oceanareas away from the coastal boundaries and
above the seabed. encompasses the entire water column of the
seas and the oceans and lies beyond the edge of the continental shelf.
extends from the tropics to the polar regions and from the sea surface to the abyssal depths.
Open ocean
WHY OPEN OCEANS HAVE LOW PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY?
Figure 2. Global patterns of productivity
Continental shelf ecosystems
is characterized by a very gentle slope less than 1 degree. The average depth is about 150 m and it has an average width of 70 km.
local variations are common, ranging from more than 1000 km in the Arctic Ocean to a few kilometers along the Pacific coast of North and South America.
The water above the continental shelf is called neritic water
Continental shelf ecosystems
Continental Shelf
WHY CONTINENTAL SHELF HAVE HIGH PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY?
Tend to have relatively high concentrations of nitrate and other nutrients, averaged over the year.
Estuaries An area in which fresh water from a river mixes
with salt water from the ocean; a transition area from the land to the ocean. Other names: bay, sound, lagoon, harbor, or bayou.
River bringing freshwater to the sea
The Ocean
Area where fresh and salt water mix
Estuary animalsHuge variety including… Blue crab, Stone crab, Fiddler crab, Horseshoe crab, Mosquito, Lobster, Flounder, Stripped bass, Crane, Flamingo, Sea gull, Ibis, Manatee, otters, and many more.
Salt MarshesA low area that is subject to regular, but gentle,
tides, dominated by grasses.Salt marshes do not have trees or shrubsLocation: Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coast
Texas salt marsh
Mangrove Swamps
Coastal wetlands located in tropical and subtropical zones; characterized by salt-tolerant trees and shrubs, such as mangrove trees
Coral ReefsStructures in the shallow oceans that are built by
animals called corals; serve as a habitat for many diverse organisms
Require two things: warm temperatures and sunlight There are many different kinds of corals:
Soft corals Hard corals
Upwelling regions
bring nutrient-rich deep water to the surface, fueling primary productivity.
UPWELLING REGIONWinds blowing across the ocean surface push water
away. Water then rises up from beneath the surface to replace the water that was pushed away.
Three Major Mechanisms:Coastal upwellingEquatorial upwelling Island mass effects
Coastal upwellingWinds moving
water along the shore result in a curl Right or Left (N or S hemisphere)
Figure. Productivity along the coast of South America
EL NINO
a warm phase of the interannual climate oscillation called El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event, an example of large-scale ocean-atmosphere interaction, and is characterized by large-scale warming of the surface tropical Pacific Ocean.
Equatorial Upwelling
The net flow of the westward currents are north on north side of the equator, and south on the south side, and this water is replaced by deeper water
Island Mass Effect
As currents encounter islands, deeper nutrient rich water is forced toward the surface.
Deep Sea
the lowest layer in the ocean, existing below the thermocline and above the seabed, at a depth of 1000 fathoms or more.
Deep sea animals exhibiting bioluminescence
Deep Sea Angler Fish
Lanternfish
Deep sea animals exhibiting bioluminescence
Deep Sea Angler Fish
Lanternfish
Deep Sea Hydrothermal Vents
Figure. Black Smoker
Physical and Chemical factors: minerals Temperatures flow levels of
their plumes
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