Vocabulary


Photo courtesy of mikebaird/Flickr.

Abyssal Zone: habitat zone found on the flat, muddy, open plains of the seafloor

Aphotic Zone: light zone found on the ocean floor and receives no sunlight

Bathal Zone: habitat zone found on the continental slope

Benthic: deep waters

Disphotic Zone: light zone located beneath the photic zone; receives some sunlight, but it is very dim at this depth in the ocean

Epifauna:
live on top of the seafloor

Euphotic Zone: light zone that receives the most sunlight, and is found at shallow depths in the ocean

Hadal Zone: habitat zone located in the deep ocean trenches

Infauna: benthic organisms that bury themselves in the mud and sediments on the seafloor

Low Intertidal Zone: exposed only during the lowest tides

Mid-Intertidal Zone: generally submerged except during low tide

Nekton: organisms that can propel themselves through the water column

Neritic Zone: habitat zone located in the shallowest waters above the continental shelf

Oceanic Zone: habitat zone found in the open ocean waters

Pelagic: shallow water

Photic Zone: light zone located beneath the euphotic zone; receives abundant sunlight, and therefore supports photosynthetic vegetation

Plankton: float in open waters

Seamounts: underwater, extinct volcanoes that reach a height of greater than 1,000 meters

Spray Zone: can be underwater during very high tides, spring tides, or severe storms

Sub-Tidal Zone: located below the low spring tide line

Tidal Range or Intertidal Zone: difference between the water level at high tide and low tide

Upper Intertidal Zone: flooded during peak tides, but exposed at other times
Last modified: Tuesday, 21 September 2010, 1:49 PM