GEOSC 040 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Photic Zone, Coccolithophore, Overfishing
Document Summary
Photic zone- where light penetrates, where photosynthesis happens. Requires: light, nutrients, carbon dioxide, water. In the ocean, light and/or nutrients are almost always the limiting factor. Nutrients need to be brought up from the deep ocean to the photic zone. All the conditions are just right to create a bloom. Organic matter is consumed by animals and plants (respiration) Nutrients must be recycled (regenerated by bacteria) to be reused by plants. About 3 billion people live within 100 miles of the sea. The oceans produce trillion of goods and services each year. Life could not exist without these vast water reserves. Now the consequences of the damage are starting to be felt onshore. More serious is the global mismanagement fish stocks. About 3 billion people get a fifth of their protein from fish, making it a more important protein than beef. 1/3 of fish stocks in the ocean are over-exploited.
