BIOLOGY 2F03 Chapter 3: Life in Water
25 Nov 2015
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Earth"s surface-70%- 1 continuous interconnected mass of water. Atlantic: 106 million km2 from pole to pole (3500 m deep) Indian: 73 million km2 bordered by s. asia, Undersea mountains cover the floors in long chains. Kelp forests replaced by coral reefs the closer you are to the equator. Coral reefs are in shallow waters (not all corals are reefs) Neritic: coast to margin where ocean is 200m deep. Habitats on bottom of ocean: benthic, those above bottom (any depth) are pelagic. Coral reefs: fringing (along shoreline), barrier (between open sea & lagoon) & atolls (coral islets built from submerged oceanic islands around lagoons) Reef crest, corals grow in surge zone, 15m deep. Buttress zone: corals & s and-bottomed canyons on floor. 3400m of deep waters getting no solar input. ~80% of solar energy absorbed in 1st 10m. Temp: surface water is warmer floating on cold water. Wall between the 2 layers: thermocline (layer of water through which temp changes drastically)
