๐ŸŒŠ

Understanding Ocean Zones and Ecosystems

May 19, 2025

Chapter 9 Study Guide

Ocean Zones

  • Sunlight Zone
  • Twilight Zone
  • Midnight Zone
  • Abyssal Plain
  • Trenches

Key Facts

  1. Where do most organisms live?
    • Most organisms live in the sunlight zone.
  2. Deepest part of the ocean?
    • Ocean trenches are the deepest.

Marine Food Web

  • Producers: Plankton are producers in marine food webs.

Intertidal Zone

  • The intertidal zone is the part of the shore that is covered at high tide and exposed at low tides.

Bioluminescence

  • Definition: When animals can make their own light.

Seafloor Features

  • Extreme Environment: Large seamount and island chain
  • Hawaiian Island: Volcano

Ocean Waves

  • Surface Waves: Winds produce the most surface waves.

Ocean Exploration Technology

  • Tools Used: Submersibles, Echolocation

Ocean Depth Changes

  • Temperature and Pressure:
    • Decrease in temperature
    • Increase in pressure as you go deeper

Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems

  • Overfishing
  • Touching coral reefs
  • Littering
  • Pollution

Salinity

  • Definition: Measure of how much salt is dissolved in water.

Tides

  • Spring Tides:
    • Occur during the new moon and full moon.
    • Sun and Moon align, increasing tidal effects.
  • Neap Tides:
    • Occur during the first and third quarter moon.
    • Gravitational forces partially cancel out, reducing tidal effects.

Seafloor Movements

  • Landforms Created:
    • Mountains
    • Ridges
    • Trenches
    • Caused by movements pushing or pulling the ocean floor.

Density Currents

  • Form due to differences in temperature and salinity, affecting water density.