1. Riley, Austin, Allie, Savannah, and Mikaila ➢ Benthic Zone (Deep Ocean)

2. ➢ What is the Benthic Zone? ➢ The Benthic zone is the lowest point of a marine or body of freshwater. This includes the surface of the sediment, the water just above it, and some sub-surface layers. The Benthic zone can be in any body of water, whether it be a pond, river, lake, or ocean. This zone starts at the shore or at the start of where the water exists, and extends down to the lowest point of sediment under the water. This means that it could be a shallow as just a few inches or thousands of feet deep. At the bottom of ocean floors, there is very little light, and the temperatures can get very low, leading one to think that there is low diversity of animal and plant life. However, many varieties of animals live here, including including Snails, Sponges, Crustaceans, and Sea Stars as well as many plants such as Sea Grass, Seaweed, Algae, and sometimes Coral Reefs.

3. ➢ Depth & Location ➢ The benthic zone is the lowest point of a body of water. It can be a couple of inches in a pond to thousands of feet in an ocean. ➢ You can locate the benthic zone at the lowest part of the ocean, on the seafloor. There is a benthic zone in all bodies of water including lakes and ponds.

4. ➢ Light Availability ➢ Light availability is low in the ocean benthic zone. Photosynthesis can no longer occur in the benthic zone there because of how low the zone is. If you are in a pond and it is not deep, light availability can be higher than if you are in the ocean benthic zone.

5. ➢ Fun Facts ➢ The prefix ¨bentho” is the Greek term meaning the ¨depth of the ocean¨. ➢ The main nutrients in this zone are dead organisms. ➢ Benthos are what the kind of organisms that live in this zone are labeled as. ➢ The majority of benthic animals are scavengers that eat decomposing flesh.

6. ➢ Animal & Plant Life ❖ Animal: ➢ Sponges ➢ Crustaceans ➢ Mussels ➢ Scallop ➢ Starfish ➢ and shrimp ❖ Plant: ➢ Cnidarians ➢ Sea grass ➢ anemones ➢ algae ➢ Coral

7. Hydrothermal Vents ❖ What is a hydrothermal vent? ➢ First discovered in 1977 by scientists, hydrothermal vents are the result of sea water filtering gradually through cracks in the oceanic crust in subduction zones or ocean spreading areas. ➢ These are areas where chemical reactions happen with seawater and hot magma coming up from the earths crust. ❖ Why are they important? ➢ Hydrothermal vents are important because they sustain all sorts of organisms that live and thrive in extreme environments with heat and pressure. ➢ They have also proved to scientists that life can exist without life. There are whole ecosystems in the deep ocean where hydrothermal vents are.

8. ➢ Bibliography ➢ https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Benthic_Zone https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Benthic_Zone ➢ https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Benthic_zone https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Benthic_zone ➢ https://www.oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/vents.html https://www.oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/vents.html ➢ https://www.buzzle.com/articles/intresting-facts-about-the-benthic- zone https://www.buzzle.com/articles/intresting-facts-about-the-benthic- zone ➢ http://www.fisheries.is/ecosystem/marine-life/benthic-animals/ http://www.fisheries.is/ecosystem/marine-life/benthic-animals/ ➢ https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/File:Undersea-volcanic- gases.jpg https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/File:Undersea-volcanic- gases.jpg ➢ http://www.whoi.edu/main/topic/hydrothermal-vents http://www.whoi.edu/main/topic/hydrothermal-vents ➢ http://marinebio.org/oceans/deep/ http://marinebio.org/oceans/deep/

9. ➢ Kahoot ➢ https://create.kahoot.it/#quiz/13eb6c2 e-806c-4c8d-b689-fd395929db29 https://create.kahoot.it/#quiz/13eb6c2 e-806c-4c8d-b689-fd395929db29