GEOSC 040 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Photic Zone, Pelagic Zone, Ecoregion
Document Summary
Use satellite imaging to see where things live in the ocean and why. Center of all ocean basins and gyres are not places where fish concentrate. Light only penetrates the top: therefore it"s the only place that food can be produced. Blue light penetrates deeper- shorter wavelengths: why the ocean is blue. Fish live in shelf and coastal upwelling regions. Photosynthesis provides the basis for food chains in the marine realm: there is no such thing as a free lunch . Single celled organisms are the basis of the food chain. Global patterns of photosynthetic organic carbon production. Phytoplankton are the base of the food chain autotrophs . Convert energy to food to support entire ocean ecosystem. Phytoplankton do this in the epipelagic zone 0-200m (3% ocean volume) Only a small amount of carbon produced (<1%) escapes consumption and is buried in sediments. Kind of like the diameter of the hair in your head.
