The World Ocean

11.1The World Oceans Objectives: Locate the major ocean zones based on their relationship to the shore. Describe the flow of water through the world ocean and the characteristics of ocean water in different parts of the world.

Although people have given names to separated ocean, such as the Atlantic and Pacific, all the oceans of the world are connected and therefore make up one large body of water.

The Oceanic Zone The open ocean, or oceanic zone, is by far the largest zone in the ocean or marine biome, making up more than 90 percent of the surface area of the world ocean. The oceanic zone is very deep, 500m along the slopes to as deep as 11,000 m below the surface. Sunlight doesn’t penetrate very deep into the oceanic zone.

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Oceanic Zone cont. The photic zone is a layer less than 100m from the surface to the open ocean. The only producers of the open ocean ecosystem are phytoplankton. Each year, the phytoplankton in the world ocean produces about 1.6 billion tons of organic carbon, the basic material of living tissues that forms the base of the food web. Tiny pieces of dead organic matter that are food for organisms at the base of aquatic food web are called detritus.

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Ocean Water Even though all oceans are connected, not all waters have the same characteristics. Amounts of energy from the sun cause oceans in different parts of the world to vary in temp., salinity, and density.

Ocean Water cont.. Water near the earth’s equator gets stronger radiation from the sun than the water elsewhere. This radiation makes the water warmer and evaporate more quickly in tropics. But near the poles the ocean is fed by melting glaciers and polar ice caps. Since the frozen water is fresh, not salty, the water near the poles is less salty than the rest of the ocean.

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Ocean Water cont. Water in the ocean flows in patterns called ocean currents. Ocean currents vary somewhat during the year and from one year to another. Certain patterns are quite stable currents are mostly driven by the wind currents flow through the ocean in large masses

The End Click for Quiz

Egg Quiz T / F 11.1 EQ T All the oceans of the world are connected. The oceanic zone, is by far the largest zone in the ocean or marine biome Sunlight doesn’t penetrate very deep into the oceanic zone. The only producers of the open ocean ecosystem are phytoplankton. Tiny pieces of dead organic matter that are food for organisms at the base of aquatic food web are called detritus. Amounts of energy from the sun cause oceans in different parts of the world to vary in temperature, salinity, and density. The sun’s stronger radiation near the equator makes the water warmer and evaporate more quickly. Melting glaciers and polar ice caps makes the water near the poles less salty than the rest of the ocean. Tropical waters are less salty due to more rapid evaporation Driven by the wind, water in the ocean flows in patterns called ocean currents. T T T T T T T F T