Читать книгу Oceans For Dummies - Joseph Kraynak - Страница 81

The rest of the ocean that is neither intertidal nor neritic accounts for the oceanic zone. This vast, deep, inground pool comprises a huge chunk of Earth. It actually accounts for 95 percent of all the living space on the planet. Yet, it’s the part of the ocean (and part of the planet) we know the least about.

It starts from the edge of the continental shelf (the outer edge of the neritic zone) and extends all the way down to the seafloor 11,064 meters (36,300 feet) at its deepest point at the bottom of the Mariana (or Marians) Trench. In fact, it’s so deep, it had to be divided into zones, but let’s not get too deep into that here; depth is the topic of the next section.

While the diversity of species in the oceanic zone can’t hold a candle to the diversity in the neritic zone, the contrast in how life survives at the top and bottom of this zone can’t be beat. Near the surface, where sunlight penetrates, plants anchor the food webs and ecosystems. In contrast, on the seafloor, where it’s pitch black, ecosystems depend on either the remains of organisms that settle to the bottom or life that develops around hydrothermal vents and the bacteria that dine on the chemicals spewing from those vents.

So, what sort of life exists in the oceanic zone? Keep reading.