bathyal zone

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Zonation of the ocean. The open ocean, the pelagic zone, includes all marine waters throughout the globe beyond the continental shelf, as well as the benthic, or bottom, environment on the ocean floor. Nutrient concentrations are low in most areas of the open ocean, and as a result this great expanse of water contains only a small percentage of all marine organisms. Far below the surface in the midocean ridges of the abyssal zone, deep-sea hydrothermal vents supporting an unusual assemblage of organisms—including chemoautotrophic bacteria—occur.

bathyal zone: Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos

Zonation of the ocean. The open ocean, the pelagic zone, includes all marine waters throughout the globe beyond the continental shelf, as well as the benthic, or bottom, environment on the ocean floor. Nutrient concentrations are low in most areas of the open ocean, and as a result this great expanse of water contains only a small percentage of all marine organisms. Far below the surface in the midocean ridges of the abyssal zone, deep-sea hydrothermal vents supporting an unusual assemblage of organisms—including chemoautotrophic bacteria—occur.

See All Images →

Topics

marine ecosystem abyssal zone neritic zone bottom water littoral zone halocline photic zone deep-scattering layer

Chutes d'Ekom - a waterfall on the Nkam river in the rainforest near Melong, in the western highlands of Cameroon in Africa.

Ecosystems