Marine Unit 2

Pelagic Zone

everything outside of coastal waters-diversity decreases with depth

Epipelagic Zone

Photic/light zone—photosynthesis, species are darker, speed = survival for animals

Plankton

animals are at mercy of tides-very diverse

Nekton

not at mercy of tide-ex: whales

Phytoplankton

plant-like and produces its own food from sunlight

Zooplankton

animal-like, must consume others for food

Nano plankton

cannot see with naked eye

Micro plankton

between 0.5-1mm

Macro plankton

over 1mm (mostly zooplankton)

Akinetic organisms

cannot move

Kinetic organisms

move (majority of plankton)

Holoplankton

plankton for their whole life

Meroplankton

plankton for only larval stage of life

Mesopelagic

“twilight zone” no sunlight or photosynthesis

Marine snow

decaying organism matter falls to ocean floor and helps feel benthic organisms

Benthic animals

live on ocean floor—pressure so great that they lack gas-filled organs—low metabolism

Deposit feeders

live on ocean floor and are bacteria chemotrophs (feeding off each other)

Coral reefs

water temps: 23-25 C

shallow, plenty of sunlight

Fringing Reefs

reefs growing close to shore

Barrier reefs

separated from shore by lagoon (patch reefs occur within those lagoons)

Atoll reefs

reefs surrounding a lagoon with little or no land (volcanic islands eroding and reef remains)

Coral Polyps

-live in coral skeleton and have stinging tentacles/symbiotic algae

-secrete calcium carbonate

Nematocysts

inside polyps’ tentacles used to capture prey using toxins and harpoon-like grabbing

Zooxanthellae

symbiotic algae that live within polyps tissues-need sunlight for photosynthesis

Reef Erosion

caused by ph lowering/ocean acidification, more CO2

Coral Bleaching

caused by changes in ocean temperature that overwhelm zooxanthellae into dying

Depositional Coast

settlement of sediments creating sandy beaches

littoral zone

between high tide mark and low tide mark—where beaches are (low biodiversity)

General adaptions for organisms

-muscular foot for bivalves (shallower)

-substrate/holdfast (kelp on ocean floor)

-Dessication prevented in splash zone by being salt tolerant

Longshore Current

flows parallel to the coasts

Longshore Drift

transportation of sediments along a coastline as a result of the longshore current

Barrier Islands

form as waves repeatedly deposit sediment parallel shoreline

Estuaries

filled with brackish water and lots of biodiversity

Pneumatophores

(only black mangroves)

Euryhaline

species can tolerate a range of salinities

Erosional Coast

continuously being eroded by oceans

Headland

a chunk of stronger rock that extends out into a body of water (erodes slower)