The Ocean Planet: Our Watery World

Chapter 2
The Ocean Planet
The Ocean Planet

Our Watery World
Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving

Chapter 2 Through the hydrologic cycle of continual
evaporation, condensation and precipitation,
The Ocean Planet at least in theory, given enough time every
water molecule eventually circulates through
Our Watery World every ocean, sea, bay, river, lake or stream.
This chapter is based upon Life on an Ocean The water in the ocean today may have been
Planet, a high school curriculum marine science in a river yesterday. It could also have been
textbook written and developed by PADI’s part of an ice cube in someone’s lemonade or
corporate affiliate, Current Publishing. For more a snowflake that fell in the Arctic. Its journey
information about Life on an Ocean Planet and back to the ocean may take thousands of
Current Publishing, visit currentpublishing.com. years.
It may appear that fresh water accounts for
Introduction a sizable portion of the earth’s hydrosphere
Although we talk about the world’s oceans – – but it doesn’t. Only about three percent
plural, there is really only one ocean because is fresh and three-quarters of that is frozen
ultimately, all the water on earth connects. in the polar ice caps. Another 20 percent is
Despite separation and confinement by land, ground water. That leaves very little fresh
all aquatic systems – fresh water and salt water to account for the numerous rivers,
water – link. No matter where you find an streams and lakes of the world. Yet, this
aquatic system, water is water. relatively small amount is incredibly important
NASA to life.
The oceans produce two influences – the
weather and world climatic patterns – and
many natural resources that make them vital
to life. And, although humans have explored
the seas for thousands of years, it is largely
the surface that we’ve seen. There’s still more
to learn than we know. To give you an idea
of how little we’ve actually seen, if this page
were the oceans, the part human eyes have
seen would be about the size of the period at
Earth is an ocean planet. This NASA the end of this sentence.
(National Aeronautic and Space
Administration) photograph shows that
In Chapter One, you learned about the
ocean covers more of the earth than land motivation that drives us to explore the
does.
Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

underwater world – mainly our thirst for
discovery. Unlike on land, it’s possible to
discover underwater places that no one, or
very few, has ever seen. Through scuba and
The Ocean Planet

other technologies, we can study the aquatic
realm for recreation, for work or for science
– or a combination of these.
In this chapter, you’ll discover what we’ve
learned about the underwater portion (fresh
and salt) of our ocean planet in more detail. Lake
The Water Cycle

Compared to earth’s total volume and mass, Ocean
the outer layer in which we find life is as thin
as paper wrapped around an egg. Yet all the
organisms on earth get what they need from We’ll
the resources in this layer with the exception
of energy from sunlight. look at
Biological processes would rapidly the diversity of marine The hydrologic cycle.
exhaust earth’s water, oxygen and vital environments that have come to
elements if they were used only once. These
resources remain and support life because exist. You’ll find that marine organisms have
they cycle between the air, land, water, and common lifestyles based on where they live.
organisms. Water travels in a hydrologic
Surprisingly, different organisms can share
cycle, changing form as organisms take it
in, as it evaporates, as it condenses and many lifestyle characteristics because they
as it flows. During the cycle, heat from the live in the same type of environment.
sun turns water from the seas, lakes, and
streams into water vapor – evaporation. Diving In this chapter you’ll learn about the
transpiration plants give up water as vapor vertical motion caused by waves and tides.
into the air. Like currents, waves and tides influence
The water vapor rises into the atmosphere,
eventually condensing and falling as where and when you can dive. Did you
precipitation (snow, rain). It flows into know that even gigantic, high-powered
streams and rivers, picking up minerals and
compounds that it carries to the oceans. aircraft carriers must bow to the tides and,
Organisms consume some of the water, sometimes, to the waves? You’ll learn that
later releasing it as water vapor, with waste wind doesn’t cause all waves and why the
products, or as a consequence of death and
decomposition. From there it returns to the proper term for a “tidal wave” is tsunami.
sea, river, and eventually, the air. You’ll also begin looking at aquatic
ecology, which studies the intricate processes

that connect organisms with each other and
the environment. You’ll see that, ultimately, Responsible Aquatic Life
every environment has a system that Interactions
As divers, we’re privileged to interact with aquatic
balances the energy flow and matter cycles
life. This privilege comes with the responsibility
through organisms within it, but almost no of minimizing damage and disruption to the
ecosystem exists entirely isolated. Each underwater ecosystem. The following guidelines
part of the aquatic environment interacts help:
1. Passive interaction is best. Passive interaction
with other parts, as well as with terrestrial
means that you do nearly nothing to disrupt the
environments. From kelp beds to coral normal behaviors. Generally, this means swimming,
reefs, each environment presents unique watching and taking photos/video in ways that
conditions that shape many characteristics of don’t frighten or otherwise disturb.
2. Be aware of unintended harm. Be aware that
indigenous species. These diverse organisms
seemingly harmless activities may be detrimental.
have developed a number of successful, and Coral and other organisms are extremely fragile
occasionally dramatic, adaptations that reflect and easily injured by an intentional or unintentional
the nature of the dense, fluid environment in touch, so watch what you touch and secure
dragging gauges or accessories. Feeding
which they live. organisms may seem a positive interaction, but in
many environments may disrupt normal behaviors
Physical Characteristics of and the ecological balance.

3. If you hunt, be conservative. Follow all game
the World’s Oceans laws and take no more than you will consume
personally. Remember, it’s the organisms you
The world’s oceans cover approximately leave that reproduce more for the future.
71 percent of the earth’s surface, with an
average depth of 3800 metres/12,500
feet. Water covers about 80 percent of
the southern hemisphere, compared to 61 of the earth’s aquatic environments isn’t
percent of the northern hemisphere. surprising.
Despite the fact that 84 percent of While we still have more to learn than we
the seafloor rests at depths below 1825 know, we’ve learned a great deal about the
metres/6000 feet, most of our knowledge physical characteristics of the earth’s aquatic
of the aquatic realm is confined to depths environments, as well as how these physical
shallower than 90 metres/300 feet. characteristics and their innate processes are
Considering that most divers rarely essential to life – not only in virtually every
venture below 30 metres/100 body of water, but in the entire biosphere (the
feet, our relative ignorance habitable space on earth).

Ocean Basins processes changed the shape of the oceans
Where did the oceans come from? According into the four main basins that exist today:
to the prevailing view of mainstream geology, the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic. From
four and a half billon years ago, the earth a south-polar view, you can see that these
The Ocean Planet

was a sphere of massive volcanic eruptions. major basins form one large, interconnected
Gases loaded with water vapor exploded from ocean system.
volcanoes into the atmosphere. Lava flowed The Antarctic Ocean surrounds Antarctica
down the sides of the volcanoes, creating and has three large embayments extending
landmasses and an uneven surface covering northward. These three oceanic extensions,
the earth. As the earth cooled, water vapor partially separated by continental barriers, are
condensed and fell as rain, filling the low the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. Other
South-polar view of the world’s oceans
basins on the earth’s surface. This created smaller oceans and seas, such as the Arctic
the oceans. Smaller water bodies that exist Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, project
today (lakes, ponds, rivers, etc.) came much from the margins of the larger ocean basins.
later as a result of rain, erosion and the Connections between the major ocean
rise and fall of landmasses. These same basins permit exchange of seawater as well

as plants and animals. Similarly, rivers and about this later). The continental shelf is
estuaries connect the ocean basins and their an underwater extension of continental
extensions to inland freshwater bodies. landmasses. If the sea level lowered only five
An equatorial view of the earth shows percent of its present average depth, the shelf
the connections between the various seas would be exposed to air. Some scientists say
and the world’s oceans, with the Pacific, that as recently as 10,000 to 15,000 years
Atlantic and Indian Ocean basins covering the ago, a large portion of the current continental
majority of the earth. shelf was land. At that time, an ice age
An equatorial view of the

world’s oceans. Note that
Pacific Ocean is the largest.
Topographical Features of caused much of the ocean’s water to freeze,

Ocean Basins lowering the sea level and exposing the
The ocean floor – from the shoreline to its continental shelf.
greatest depths – has topographical The continental shelf width varies
features that create diverse considerably, from a few kilometres/miles
and varied terrain (more detail offshore to hundreds of kilometres/miles

Average Maximum
Ocean Area Volume Depth Depth
x106 km2/mile2 x106 km3/mile3 m/ft m/ft
The Ocean Planet

Pacific 165.2/63.8 707.6/169.8 4282/13,917 11,022/35,822
Atlantic 82.4/31.8 323.6/77.7 3926/12,760 9200/29,900
Indian 73.4/28.3 291.0/69.8 3963/12,880 7460/24,245
Arctic 14.1/5.4 17.0/4.1 1205/3916 4300/13,975
Caribbean 4.3/1.7 9.6/2.3 2216/7202 7202/23,400
Mediterranean 3.0/1.2 4.2/1 1429/4644 4600/14,950
Other 18.7/7.2 17.3/4.2
A comparison of the major ocean basins.
offshore. In total area, the continental shelf place along these ridges. The tallest peaks of
accounts for about eight percent of the total these linear mountain systems occasionally
seafloor surface area. However, many of break the surface, creating islands such as
the world’s most valuable and sensitive Iceland and Ascension Island.
ecosystems exist in this area due to light
40
penetration into the relatively shallow waters.
The edge of the continental shelf drops 35
1,990m
off at a significant angle at depths around 30
(6529')
DEPTH (thousands of feet)
110-190 metres/350-600 feet, beginning the

25
continental slope. This slope continues down
8848m
to depths of 2800-3700 metres/9000-12,000 20 10,838m
(35,558')
(29,028')
elevation of
feet, where the largest surface area of the Mt. Everest
15 Challenger Deep and Mt. Everest comparison.
seafloor begins – the abyssal plains. Challenger Deep is so deep that Mt. Everest
Undersea mountain chains called oceanic 10 could be placed within it and still have
approximately 1990 metres/6529 feet of water
ridges occupy about 30 percent of the ocean- 5 above it. The only visit to Challenger Deep was
basin area. Seamounts and many islands made in 1960. No submersible in use today can
0 reach the bottom of Challenger Deep.
are formed by the volcanic activity that takes

Finally, deep trenches cut into the deepest Environment Classification
parts of the ocean. Usually found at the Methods
margins of basins, deep-ocean trenches How can you classify marine environments?
are especially common in the Pacific. The Pretend you’re visiting a local park. Your job
deepest known point in any ocean is the is to define park areas for closer study. How
Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. At would you go about it? You might observe
10,838 metres/35,558 feet, it’s so deep that if that parts of the park consist of lawn, trees
you put Mt. Everest into it, the top would still and other plants. Other parts consist of small
be more than 1990 metres/6529 feet under buildings, paved walkways and swing sets for
water. The world’s oceans hold more than children. This may lead you to divide the park
1.18 trillion cubic kilometres/285 million cubic into the “natural zones” and the “developed
miles of water. zones.” Or, you might notice that the park has
outlying areas near the surrounding streets.
Basic Ocean Zones and Marine The inner areas, on the other hand, lie a good
Lifestyles
distance from any motor traffic. This might
One of the amazing things about earth call for a division into the “outer zone” and the
is its diversity of environments and life. “inner zone.”
After the atmosphere, oceans and life
formed, biologists think that organisms
changed through processes still at
work today. Uneven heating by the sun
Hig
created regions with different relative Low
Tid
e
hT
ide
temperatures and moisture, with ongoing

physical processes continually changing
these conditions. Scientists theorize that
these processes explain the diversity
The pelagic zone is subdivided along both the
of environments and the organisms horizontal and vertical axes. Horizontally there
within them on earth today. Because are the neritic and oceanic zones, which are
delineated by the edge of the continental shelf.
the characteristics of an environment The neritic zone is shoreward of the shelf. Along
determine the adaptations organisms the vertical axis the pelagic zone is divided by
depth. The depth of light penetration defines the
must have to live there, let’s begin by top layers, epipelagic and mesopelagic. The
looking at the basic ocean remaining deeper ones are in constant darkness
and comprise the seas below approximately
environments and the types 1000 metres/3280 feet.
of organisms you find there.

On the other hand, your interest may pelagic zone and the bottom is called the
relate to how organisms live in the park. You benthic zone. Each of these has subdivisions.
notice birds, insects, dogs, trees and people. The pelagic zone is divided into two
Based on this, you may classify the life forms horizontal zones – neritic and oceanic. The
The Ocean Planet

into “inhabitants” that live there and “visitors” neritic zone is the water area between the
that come visit from time to time but don’t low-tide mark to the edge of the continental
stay. Or, you may classify them as those that shelf. The oceanic zone is the open water
fly and those that don’t. area beyond that. The oceanic zone is
None of these division methods is right further divided into vertical regions called
or wrong; they are valid ways to define the epipelagic zone, mesopelagic zone,
the park’s areas. In studying the park, you bathypelagic zone, abyssalpelagic zone, and
may end up using more than one method, the hadalpelagic zone.
depending on what you’re considering. The epipelagic zone is the top layer
Studying the effect of noise, you may consider that sunlight penetrates. Below that lies the
the “inner” and “outer zones.” Studying mesopelagic zone, which sunlight reaches
Hig
Low hT
ide
Tid
e
how people use the park, the “natural” and but not strongly enough to support much
“developed” division may be more useful. life. The zones below are the bathypelagic,
As a diver you have the same concerns abyssalpelagic and hadalpelagic. The
when you consider the oceans and its bathypelagic zone is the deep water in
inhabitants. The seas can be divided into open ocean. The abyssalpelagic zone is
many different regions based on physical the even deeper water in oceanic trenches.
characteristics. Parts of the ocean could Hadalpelagic is the deepest water in the
be classified into different zones or regions ocean trenches.
based on the light, depth, temperature, The benthic zone is divided based on
density (more on these characteristics to depth. Moving from shore toward the open
come), latitude, and distance from shore or ocean, the first zone is the supralittoral zone.
a combination of these. For now, let’s look at This is the zone that water splashes, but it
some of the basic classifications based on does not remain submerged. Beyond that The benthic zone.
distance from shore and depth. lies the littoral zone, which is the bottom The littoral zone, also known as the intertidal
zone, is submerged according to the tides.
area between the high-tide and low-tide Past the low-tide mark is the continental shelf.
Location mark so that it is sometimes submerged and After the continental shelf break is the bathyal
zone that extends down to the bottom of the
The most basic division of the ocean based sometimes above water. continental slope. The abyssal zone runs
on location is between the water column and Beyond the littoral zone is the continental from the base of the continental slope to the
beginning of the deep ocean – after which is
the bottom. The water portion is called the shelf. This area is divided into the sublittoral the hadal zone.

zone, which is the ocean bottom close to animals (zooplankton) that exist adrift in
shore, and the outer sublittoral zone, which ocean currents. Most plankton are very
is the ocean bottom out to the edge of the small or microscopic and can’t swim against
continental shelf. The bathyal zone is the currents and waves. Plankton are among the
bottom along the continental slope down most important organisms on earth, without
to the deep open ocean bottom. The deep them most life would die.
open ocean bottom is called the abyssal The nekton are what you probably
zone. The deepest zone, areas below 6000 immediately visualize when you think of
metres/19,685 feet, is the hadal zone. marine organisms. These are the organisms
Commonly you’ll hear the bathyal, abyssal, that swim, from small invertebrates to large
and hadal zones called the deep sea floor.
Organism Lifestyles ZOOPLANKTON

(animal plankton)
Later in this chapter you’ll be reading about
some of the thousands of different types of
specific organisms living in the world’s fresh
and saltwater environments. You’ll quickly
learn that aquatic life is incredibly diverse.
With hundreds of thousands of species, it PHYTOPLANKTON
(plant plankton)
can be difficult to discuss them individually.
Scientists therefore group and subgroup
organisms based on common physical
characteristics, but this type of classification
doesn’t work for some discussions. As
a diver, you often find that the specific
organism itself is less important than how
and where it lives. Very different organisms
Marine lifestyles.
can exist in the same environment and have Organisms classified
similar survival strategies. For these types according to lifestyle are
divided into three major
of discussion, scientists classify aquatic life groups. The plankton are the
into three lifestyles called plankton, drifters (which also include
the neuston, which live at
nekton and benthos. the surface), nekton live
Plankton is a group of in the water column, and
benthic organisms live on or
plants (phytoplankton) and in the sea floor.

whales. Most of the seas’ predators are Temperature
nekton. The majority of the nekton are Water has a high heat capacity, meaning
vertebrates (animals with internal skeletons it can store and hold more heat than most
and backbones), such as fish and whales. common substances (more about this in
The Ocean Planet

But, a few are invertebrates (animals without Chapter Four). This characteristic provides
internal skeletons and backbones), such as the earth with thermal inertia, which is the
squid. tendency to resist temperature changes.
The benthos are organisms that live on Because of its high heat capacity, the ocean
or in the bottom. Benthos can move about or temperature doesn’t rise or fall much, even
be sessile organisms. Sessile organisms are when gaining or losing large quantities of
attached, like sea anemones, barnacles and heat. Therefore, temperature changes in
sea fans. the sea tend to be much less severe and
These classifications have subgroups. more gradual over time. By comparison,
One important subgroup of plankton is called temperatures on land may vary widely –
the neuston. The neuston are those plankton 20°C/68°F in a single day in some climates at
that float at the surface. One example is the some times of the year.
Portuguese man-of-war, which has a special However, the ocean’s thermal inertia
gas float that keeps it at the surface and is important to organisms on land as well
allows the wind to push it to help it capture as in the sea because of the tremendous
prey with its stinging tentacles. amount of energy coming from the sun.
The benthos are divided into the epifauna, About half of this energy makes it through
epiflora and infauna. The epifauna are the atmosphere, the ocean absorbs much
those animals, such as crabs, that live on of it. Through convection, evaporation and
the sea floor. Epiflora are plants, such as radiation, the heat returns to the atmosphere
seagrasses, that live on the sea floor. Infauna and radiates back into space. Over time, the
are organisms that are partially or completely incoming solar radiation and earth’s internal
buried in the sea floor. These include some heat sources balance with the outward
species of clams, sand dollars, tubeworms radiating heat. This keeps the earth in thermal
and sea pens. Most infauna are either deposit equilibrium, meaning that it cools at about the
feeders or suspension feeders. Deposit same rate that it heats. Over time, the earth
feeders feed off detritus (loose organic and grows neither significantly warmer nor colder.
inorganic material) drifting down from above. Daily and seasonally, seawater acts
Suspension feeders filter particles (mostly as a global thermostat, preventing broad
plankton) suspended in the water for food. temperature swings caused by uneven solar

heating across the globe. Seawater absorbs as salinity. An organism’s tolerance range
heat during the day and during the summer partly defines the ecological community in
and then releases it back into the atmosphere which it can live.
at night and during the winter. Also, sea ice Aquatic life distribution is closely
found in the polar regions absorbs heat as associated with geographical differences in
it melts during the day and releases heat as water temperature. This is because most
it refreezes in the night. The temperature animals and all plants lack a mechanism to
differences between day and night or winter control their internal temperatures. These
and summer would be much greater without organisms are called cold-blooded and their
the oceans providing thermal equilibrium. internal body temperature is the same as
Without the thermal inertia provided by water, the environmental temperature. As a result,
many – perhaps most – of the organisms these organisms can only exist within a
on earth could not survive the drastic fairly narrow temperature range. Only birds,
temperature swings that would occur between mammals and a very few large pelagic (open
night and day. ocean) fish, such as tuna, can regulate their
Every species has a range of conditions internal body temperatures (up to a point).
in which it can live and beyond which it can’t. These organisms are called warm-blooded
These conditions include temperature, salinity (homeothermic). The ability to regulate body
and light intensity, among many others. temperature gives these organisms a much
Some species can tolerate a wide variety of greater opportunity to move through a variety
environmental conditions and so can live in a of climate zones.
large number of places. Others can tolerate Temperature change can have several
only a narrow range of conditions and are effects on aquatic organisms. First, it can
more restricted in where they can live. An alter the rate of metabolism (cell growth,
organism may have a wide range of tolerance oxygen consumption, heartbeat and other
for one condition (e.g., temperature) and a physiological processes). For cold-blooded
narrow range for another (e.g., salinity). organisms, the environmental temperature
Tolerance ranges tend to affect each other. regulates their metabolism. As a rule,
For example, sea stars can tolerate a wide metabolic rates for such animals increase
range of temperatures, but if they are living two to three times with every 10°C/50°F rise
near their temperature limit, they in temperature. Clearly, seasonal changes
are under stress and are less in water temperature can profoundly affect
tolerant of changes in other aquatic organisms. A cold-blooded species’
environmental factors, such ability to tolerate temperature fluctuations

The Ocean Planet
r
ato Sunlight
Equ
Sunlight ua
to r
Eq
Seasons
result from
the tilt of the
earth’s axis
relative to
the plane
Uneven Solar Heating and the Seasons

The 23.5° tilt of the earth’s rotational axis relative the northern hemisphere days are short, and the
to the plane of its orbit around the sun causes hemisphere receives the least amount of sunlight
the seasons. Close to the summer solstice, days of any time of year. Above the Arctic Circle,
are long, and the northern hemisphere receives the sun doesn’t rise for months. Seasons are
more sunlight than at any other time during the exactly the opposite in the southern hemisphere
year. For months, above the Arctic Circle, the sun because the bottom of the earth’s axis tilts
doesn’t set and the region receives 24 hours of toward the sun when the bottom tilts away.
daylight every day. Close to the winter solstice, in
can be crucial to its survival. Many aquatic As a diver, temperature affects you much
organisms use seasonal changes in as it affects aquatic life. This is why you need
temperature to trigger the release of sperm to pay attention to water temperature and
and eggs into the water. Species common proper insulation. The amount of insulation
to Pacific Northwest shores, such as the bay varies with the water temperature, and the
mussel, use this environmental cue to ensure water temperature varies with where you
that all the individual mussels within the are, the season, and to some extent with
region spawn at once. the weather. You can experience water

temperature ranging from -2°C/28°F in accumulated product of the mixing, over
polar regions to more than 30°C/85°F in the millions of years, of particles from air, rocks
tropics to even higher temperatures in some and soil with rainwater. One reason fresh
geothermally heated springs. Within a given water is fresh is that it accumulates inland
region, water temperature usually varies, from precipitation (nearly pure water) and
but not usually by more than 8°-11°C/15°- except in a few places, hasn’t had the time,
20°F throughout the year. You’ve probably geologically speaking, to become salty.
experienced that in moderate climates a dry Dissolved compounds compose about 3.5
suit is preferable during cool seasons, but a percent of seawater. The other 96.5 percent
wet suit is more than adequate during warm is pure water. Traces of all naturally occurring
seasons. substances can be found in the world’s
oceans and generally fall into one of three
Salinity categories: inorganic substances (usually
The chemical composition of water is another referred to as salts and nutrients), dissolved
major factor influencing the aquatic realm. gases, and organic compounds (usually
Marine scientists think that seawater is the originating from living organisms). In recent
80 80 80 80 80
34 35 60
60 60 60 60
60
32 35
35
33
40 40 40 40 40
40 34
40 30 35
41 37
32 30 20 20 20
20 35
40 36 33 35 36
32 33 32 35
38 33 35 34
28 35 34 34 30
40 36 60 100 120 140 160 180 160 140 120 100 60 40 20 0
0 36 0
35 34 30
30 36 37
34 37
35 36 20
20 20 36
30
36 30 35
35 40
40 35 40 40 36 40 33 34
34 34
34 34 34
34 60
60 60 60
60 60
34
80 80 80 80
80 80
Salinity greater than 36 parts per thousand Salinity 34-36 parts per thousand Salinity less than 34 parts per thousand
Global salinity.
Global salinity of the oceans can vary markedly from one area to the next.
Tropical regions tend to be saltier than temperate regions.

years another category has emerged: organic saturated with dissolved salt, develops in
and synthetic compounds such as DDT and areas with high evaporation and little inflow
other pollutants, which can have devastating of fresh water or where salt domes dissolve
effects on aquatic life. at the seafloor, as is common in the Gulf of
The Ocean Planet

Salinity refers to the sodium chloride Mexico. As with temperature, the amount of
(NaCl) dissolved in water, along with or changes in salinity can drastically affect
other salts, including potassium chloride an organism’s survival. The effect salinity
(KCl). Salinity includes the total quantity changes have on aquatic plants and animals
or concentration of all dissolved inorganic relates to their own internal chemical balance.
solids, or more precisely, ions. This includes All aquatic plants, invertebrates and most
the sodium chloride and everything else, fish have body fluids that approximate the
commonly called the dissolved salts. We salinity of the water they live in. There is
express salinity in parts per thousand a chemical balance between their internal
because even very small variations are body fluids and the external environment.
significant. The abbreviation ‰ stands for Most plants or animals have no mechanism
“parts per thousand,” so 35‰ means 35 to adjust their chemical balance if they
parts per thousand. (Note: To convert parts experience water of radically different salinity,
per thousand into percent, you divide by 10, but a few do. Salmon are perhaps the best
so that 35‰ = 3.5%.) The ocean’s average example of fish that exhibit osmoregulation
salinity is 35‰, or 3.5 percent. (a regulation process that allows an organism
Generally, a body of water’s salinity varies to use active transport [the process of a cell
very little, although there is a great deal of moving materials from low concentration
variation in specific areas: from near zero to high concentration] to adjust the water
at the mouths of rivers to more than 40‰ in concentration within their cells), the
confined, arid regions such as the Red Sea. mechanism that allows them to migrate
The proportion of the various dissolved salts between fresh and salt water
in seawater does not change, only the relative
amount of water. The salinity changes when Sources of Salinity
fresh water enters the ocean – such as from With constant rain, runoff, erosion and
a river or from rain – or as water evaporates. other natural forces, you may think that
For instance, brackish water results when oceanic salinity is rising or falling. However,
fresh water mixes with seawater in estuaries. that doesn’t appear to be the case. Most
Brackish water has a salinity of 0.6‰ to 30‰. oceanographers think that salinity is in a
Brine, which is water saturated or nearly steady state and that there’s no sign of

VOLCANIC DISCHARGE
• Sulfur dioxide
• Carbon dioxide
• Hydrogen sulfide
• Hydrochloric acid
VOL
CAnIC PrECIPItA
tIOn
• Sulfate • Sulfide • Chloride
SEA SPrA
Y/
WEA
tHErInG EVAPOrA
tIOn
• Sodium
• Calcium • Sodium
• Potassium • Chloride
• Magnesium
• Chloride
rIVEr dISCHArGE
• Sodium • Calcium HYdrOtHErMAL
• Potassium • Magnesium VEntS
• Bicarbonates • Calcium • Chloride
• Potassium • Lithium Sources of salt in the ocean. Salt and other
• Sulfide • Rubidium compounds can enter the ocean by the weathering
BIOLOGICAL PrOCESSES of rocks. Carried by rivers, these compounds
• Silica • Nitrate become dispersed in the ocean. Other minerals
PrOCESSESttHA • Calcium carbonate
• Magnesium enter the ocean through hydrothermal vent
rEMOVE IOnS In
discharge and volcanic precipitation. Salts and
SEA
WAtEr
other compounds leave the ocean by sea spray,
PrOCESSESttHA AdSOrPtIOn
• Magnesium evaporation and biological processes. Scientists
• Manganese
Add IOnS tO WA
SEA
tEr • Sulfate believe that the sources of salt removal and addition
cancel each other out.
oceans becoming more or less salty. The by rivers, so there must be other sources.
thinking is that the sources of salt removal Waves and surf contribute by eroding coastal
and addition cancel each other out. rock (more about this later). Hydrothermal
But, where do the salts come from in vents (deep ocean hot mineral springs)
the first place? One source appears to change seawater by adding some materials
be minerals and chemicals eroding and while removing others. Other biological and
dissolving into fresh water flowing into the chemical processes and reactions within the
ocean. This means that rivers, runoff and rain seawater and on the seafloor tend to remove
percolating through the ground into salts. Scientists think these processes all
the sea bring in salts. However, counterbalance so that the average salinity of
the salts in seawater differ seawater remains constant. In this way, the
from the salts delivered ocean is said to be in chemical equilibrium.

Density the pycnocline, the zone in which density
Differences in water temperature and salinity increases with increasing depth. Below the
cause differences in water density. Density pycnocline, temperature and salinity tend to
differences cause water to separate into be uniform.
The Ocean Planet

layers. High-density water lies beneath low-
density water. Low temperature and high
salinity result in high-density water, whereas
higher temperatures and lower salinity result
in low-density water.
Relatively warm, low-density surface
waters are separated from cool, high-density
deep waters by the thermocline, the zone
in which temperature changes rapidly with
depth. These distinct layers are so abrupt that
in calm water you can swim in warm water
Different densities cause water to form layers. Water
and stick your hand into distinctly colder can form layers characterized by an abrupt change in
water. This is especially common in still, salinity. The interface between these two layers is called
a halocline. This is common where water from the land
freshwater bodies like lakes and quarries. forms a layer over salt water from the ocean. Cave divers
The temperature difference above and passing through the halocline may stir up the layers. The
blurred effect comes from the mixing of the different layers.
below the thermocline may be as great
as 8°-11°C/15°-20ºF. When the water is
disturbed, sometimes you can see distortion
pH – Acidity and Alkalinity
at the thermocline, somewhat like the The relative concentration of positively
shimmering air that rises from a hot asphalt charged hydrogen ions or negatively charged
road or aircraft taxiway, The mixing of two hydroxide ions determines the water’s
temperature layers causes this effect. You acidity or alkalinity. Acidity and alkalinity are
may find thermoclines in both fresh and salt measured as pH, a scale that represents the
water, and the thermocline rises and falls with balance between the positive hydrogen ions
seasonal temperature. (H+) and the negative hydroxide ions (OH-) in
Salinity differences overlap temperature a liquid.
differences and the transition from low-salinity When a solution has a lot of hydrogen
surface waters to high-salinity deep waters ions, it is considered an acid with a pH value
is known as the halocline. In the ocean, the of 0 to less than 7. A pH of 0 indicates a very
thermocline and halocline together make concentrated acid that would burn your skin,

whereas a dilute acid has a pH of 4.0 or 5.5. both natural and human-produced causes.
For example, citric acid, which gives lemons However, the ocean’s pH remains relatively
their sour taste, is a dilute acid. The pH scale stable due to buffering. A buffer is a substance
is logarithmic, meaning that a fixed number that reduces the tendency of a solution to
multiplies every number in the scale. In the become too acidic or too alkaline. Seawater is
case of pH, the fixed number is 10, so that buffered primarily through its carbon dioxide
each step in the scale represents a tenfold content. Carbon dioxide combines with water
change. Therefore, going from a pH of 6 to in several chemical reactions that either free
a pH of 7, for example, represents a tenfold
decrease in acidity. Hydrochloric Acid (HCl)
Solutions with lots of hydroxyl ions are pH of common substances. Acidity and
Battery Acid, alkalinity are measured as pH, a scale
considered alkaline, also called basic, Human Stomach Acids that represents the balance between the
solutions. The pH is higher than 7, with positive hydrogen ions (H+) and the negative
Lemon Juice hydroxide ions (OH-) in a liquid. On a pH
anything over 9 considered a concentrated scale, 0 is most acidic, 14 is most basic, and
alkaline solution. Sodium hydroxide, for Wine, Vinegar, Apples, 7 is neutral. For a familiar reference to acidity
Oranges and alkalinity, shown here is the pH of common
example, has a pH of 14 and is dangerous to items and substances found in everyday life.
Tomatoes, Bananas
touch. Baking soda, by comparison, has a pH
of about 8. Bread, Black Coffee
Pure water has a pH of 7, which is neutral.
Have you ever wondered why you can open
your eyes comfortably in most freshwater Sodium
Hydroxide
lakes, but that your eyes burn a little when Milk
(NaOH)
you open them in the ocean? This is because

Pure Water,
seawater pH typically ranges from 7.8 to 8.3, Human Blood Oven Cleaner
which is very mildly alkaline. Recall that the Egg Whites, Hair Removal
Seawater, Detergents, Soap Ammonia, Products
difference between a pH of 7 and a pH of 8 Baking Soda Stomach Non-Phosphate
Antacids Detergent
is a tenfold change. The slight alkalinity of
the seawater (caused by the dissolved salts)
irritates your eyes.
Freshwater bodies may not always be up or release hydrogen ions. When the water
neutral and can have a very broad pH range, is too basic, the reactions release hydrogen
from highly acidic to highly alkaline. ions, making it more acidic. Alternatively,
The pH of a freshwater body when the water is acidic, other reactions bind
can change radically due to with hydrogen ions, making it more basic. The

carbon cycle is a vital but complex process are made of calcium carbonate, of dead
that tends to keep ocean pH relatively stable organisms.
(more on this later). The pH of water also affects marine life’s
Although seawater pH is relatively stable, ability to thrive. A perfect example can be
The Ocean Planet

it changes with depth. It does this because found in the marine lakes of Palau in the
the amount of carbon dioxide tends to vary North Pacific Ocean. Palau’s marine lakes
with depth. The upper, sunlit depths, called are part of the ocean and the water in the
the photic zone, have the greatest density of lakes changes with the tides. Several of these
photo-synthetic organisms. These organisms lakes, however, are completely isolated from
use the carbon dioxide, making the water the surrounding ocean and water flows from
slightly less acidic. Also, surface water is the ocean into the lakes through cracks in the
relatively warm, which tends to reduce limestone typical of the islands in this region.
carbon dioxide in solution. Generally, warm Fissures in the limestone islands allow for
productive water (water with a lot of organism the transfer of saltwater from the ocean, yet
growth) has a pH around 8.5. exclude other forms of aquatic life.
In the ocean’s middle depths, pH can These isolated lakes lack predators and
Al Hornsby
change slightly. There may be more carbon the favorable conditions have made the lake
dioxide present from the respiration of marine at Eil Malk home for some unique marine life.
animals and other organisms. This makes the Two species of non stinging jellyfish (Moon
water somewhat more acidic with a lower pH. Jellyfish and the Mestiga) inhabit the lake by
At about 1000 metres/3280 feet depth, the millions. They don’t sting to hunt prey,
there’s less organic activity. This results in a but instead use algae cells inside their clear
decrease in respiration and, consequently, bodies to capture the energy of the sunlight
carbon dioxide, so that midlevel seawater to grow their own food. The jellyfish follow
tends to be more alkaline. At about 3000 the rise of the sun and at night, descend
meters/9840 feet and deeper, the water into a deeper water layer with dissolved
becomes more acidic again. This is because hydrogen sulfide (a toxin that doesn’t affect
the decay of sinking organic material them) starting at 18 metres/60 feet. Here they
produces carbon dioxide, but there are no replenish themselves in the depths of bacteria The inland lake jellyfish in Palau illustrate the effects of
pH on an organism’s survival. These jellyfish thrive in a
photosynthetic organisms to remove it. The in the lower layer of their lake. pH well above the ocean’s typical pH.
transition between less acidic and more acidic Snorkelers swim and mingle with the
water is known as the calcium compensation jellyfish in the top layers of the lake where
depth (CCD). Water below the CCD is acidic the pH is an average 8.5. Snorkelers are
enough to dissolve the sinking shells, which cautioned against surface diving to much

more than 9 metres/30 feet deep as at this independently of salinity owing to biological
depth the lake becomes more alkaline due and geological activity. For example, some
to the decrease in respiration (owing to organic material may be in short supply in
the lack of other marine organisms) and, aquatic environments with a high biological
consequently, carbon dioxide, making for a density. In other areas, substances may be
very concentrated alkaline solution. overabundant from pollution or discharge
from mineral springs
Non Salt Dissolved Compounds
All life depends on material from the
Oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen are
nonliving part of the earth. The continuous
the most abundant gases found dissolved in
flow of elements and compounds between
water; the amounts vary with environmental
organisms (biological form) and the earth
and biological factors. One factor affecting the
(geological form) is called the biogeochemical
solubility of gases in water is temperature. As
cycle.
you’ll learn more about in Chapter Four, cold
water can hold more gas than warm water.
Nutrients
The metabolic activity of plants and animals
Aside from gases used in respiration or
also determines the amounts and kinds of
photosynthesis, substances required for
gases in water. Plants produce oxygen and
life include nutrients. The primary nutrient
use carbon dioxide during photosynthesis
elements related to seawater chemistry
while animals use oxygen and produce
are carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon,
carbon dioxide during respiration.
iron and a few other trace metals. When
Although the sea salts – the dissolved
organisms die, what scavengers do not
inorganic solids in seawater – account for
consume sinks, eventually reaching the
the majority of dissolved solids, there are
bottom at depths below the photic zone.
others that are organic or that interact with
Bacteria and other microorganisms
organisms on a significant scale. These
decompose the organic material as it sinks
elements are crucial to life and differ from
and on the seafloor. Decomposition leaves
salts in several ways.
inorganic nutrients. Upwelling, which is an
One difference is that the principle of
upward water flow, is one force that returns
constant proportions (principle that the
inorganic nutrients to shallow water. Once in
proportions of dissolved salts in seawater
the photic zone, photosynthesis returns the
are constant) does not apply to these
nutrients to the food chain.
substances. These other
Not all elements and compounds cycle at
dissolved substances change
the same rate. Some cycle rapidly, whereas
over time and vary in proportion

others may be isolated or trapped on the from organisms’ excretion and from the
seafloor for long periods. The biogeochemical decomposition of organic material. It is
cycle of the various nutrients affects the transported in global current patterns. Most of
nature of organisms and where they live in the organic carbon that finds its way into the
The Ocean Planet

the sea. deep sea is broken down into inorganic forms
Nutrient distribution depends partly on by bacteria. This action creates a “biological
depth: plants take up nutrients in shallow pump” that tends to concentrate carbon and
water, while animals produce wastes at other nutrients with depth; this plays a central
all depths. Consequently, this depletes role in the global carbon cycle. This “pump”
nutrients at the surface and concentrates transfers carbon from the atmosphere to the
them in deeper water. This is opposite to the deep sea, where it concentrates and remains
vertical distribution of oxygen and reflects an for centuries. Scientists think this accounts for
important biological cycle: primary production about 75 percent of the difference between
of plant material, consumption of this material dissolved inorganic carbon concentrations at
by aquatic animals and finally, excretion of the surface and in the deep sea.
waste products, which releases nutrients.
Carbon
Carbon is the basic building material of all
life because it is unparalleled in its ability
to provide complex molecular structures
for forming very different compounds. This
property of carbon is so distinct and important
that many biologists argue (science fiction
notwithstanding) that there is no other known
element upon which life could be based The carbon cycle. Carbon is
– i.e., no carbon equals no possibility of life. the fundamental element of
life and this figure shows the
Almost all organic molecules consist of one or major steps of the carbon
more carbon atoms. Carbon exists in aquatic cycle. In addition to the
700 billion tons of carbon
environments in many forms. dioxide in the atmosphere,
Natural mineral sources, such as approximately one trillion tons
are dissolved in the oceans.
carbonate rock, contribute to the ocean’s The movement of carbon
carbon as sediments dissolve into the between the biosphere and
the nonliving world is called
water. Dissolved organic carbon is formed the carbon cycle.

Carbon compounds are found in air and energy source) with chlorophyll, convert
water and within rocks and minerals. They carbon dioxide into carbohydrates through
exist in the air as carbon dioxide, which is a photosynthesis. Photosynthesis uses light
by-product of respiration. Carbon dioxide also to convert inorganic carbon from carbon
enters the atmosphere from volcanic activity dioxide into carbohydrate – an organic
and fires, particularly forest fires. Humans compound high in usable chemical energy.
increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the Photosynthesis returns carbon from carbon
atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide to the biosphere by converting into
dioxide is found in the fossil fuels because these more complex carbon compounds. It is
plants and animals absorb it. When the this process that allows the sun’s energy to
organisms die, the carbon dioxide is buried directly or indirectly power almost all the life
with them and remains with them as they are on earth. Without photosynthesis, life as we
transformed into fossil fuels. Burning these know it would not be possible. The movement
fossil fuels then releases the carbon dioxide of carbon between the biosphere and the
into the atmosphere. Prior to the Industrial nonliving world is described by the carbon
Revolution, the carbon dioxide concentration cycle.
in the air was an estimated 280 ppm (parts
per million). Today it averages about 365 ppm Nitrogen
and is increasing rapidly. Carbon dioxide is Nitrogen is another element crucial to life.
a greenhouse gas and many scientists think Organisms require nitrogen for organic
it is a major contributor to the increase in compounds such as protein, chlorophyll
temperatures seen around the globe, known and nucleic acids. Nitrogen makes up about
as global warming. 78 percent of air and 48 percent of gases
Carbon dioxide must be transformed dissolved in seawater. However, gaseous
into other carbon compounds for use by nitrogen must be converted to a chemically
heterotrophs (organisms like us that rely on usable form before living organisms can use
digesting plant or animal matter to obtain it. Only specific types nitrogen fixing bacteria
the chemical energy necessary for life). In can combine nitrogen from the air into other
terrestrial and aquatic environments, plants, compounds. This happens in the nitrogen
prokaryotes, algae and other autotrophs cycle, during which gaseous nitrogen is
(organisms that can create fixed into nitrate (NO3-), nitrite (NO2-), and
organic chemical energy ammonium (NH4+).
compounds from inorganic These bacteria take up the nitrogen
compounds and an external and incorporate it into their systems as

The Ocean Planet
The nitrogen cycle. Bacteria carry out many
of the important steps of the nitrogen cycle,
including the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen
into a usable form (ammonia), and denitrification
(returning nitrogen to the air and water). Even
combustion (from fossil fuels and forest fires),
lightning and volcanic activity can form nitrogen
oxides and nitric acid that return nitrogen to
the soil and water. The nitrogen cycle has four
important stages: 1) Assimilation: the absorption
and incorporation of nitrogen into living systems,
2) Decomposition: the production of ammonia
by bacteria during the decay of animal urine,
3) Nitrification: the production of nitrate from
ammonia, 4) Denitrification: the conversion of
nitrate to nitrogen gas.
protein. The nitrogen passes up the food nitrogen returns to the water column as a gas.
web through trophic feeding and returns An important point illustrates the
through the cycle after death. At this point, the connection between aquatic and terrestrial
nitrogenous compounds break down during ecosystems: Although marine organisms
decomposition, becoming ammonia. Plants rely on biological compounds with nitrogen,
take up some of the ammonia, and the rest biologists think very little nitrogen fixing
either dissolves into water or remains in the occurs in the sea. Instead, nitrogen fixing
soil. Microorganisms convert the ammonia bacteria create the compounds in terrestrial
into nitrates and nitrites (nitrification). Nitrates environments, which then reach aquatic
from decomposed material can be buried environments through runoff, bird droppings
into sediments on the ocean floor or they can and other means.
go through denitrification, during which the

Oxygen component of bones and teeth.
Most (but not all) organisms rely on oxygen In the marine environment, some
for respiration, which is the process in which microscopic organisms called diatoms and
the chemical energy in carbohydrates gets radiolarians similarly use silicon for their
used for the processes of life. Oxygen is a shells and skeletons. Within these organisms,
highly reactive element (meaning it combines silicon exists as silicon dioxide, commonly
readily with other substances) that’s central to called silica. In addition, most sand is made
this chemical reaction. Even autotrophs that of silica because it is a common component
release oxygen during photosynthesis use of rocks and minerals and does not break
oxygen for respiration. down easily. Phosphorus and silicon
Oxygen dissolves into water either as a convert relatively rapidly into phosphate and
by-product of photosynthesis from aquatic
autorophs, or, to a small degree, from the
atmosphere. The result is that the surface
of the world’s ocean is rich in oxygen, while
the ocean depths tend to be low in oxygen,
demonstrating the critical role plants and
algae play in oxygen distribution. The deeper
depths lack sufficient light for photosynthesis,
so predictably they also have much less
oxygen and correspondingly less density of
life.
Phosphorus and Silicone

Phosphorus is another element important to
life because it is used in the ADP/ATP cycle,
which is part of the process needed to convert
The phosphorus
chemical energy into the energy required cycle. Phosphorus is
for life. Phosphorus is also part of DNA and another element important to
life because it is used in the ADP/
other nucleic acids, the molecules that pass ATP cycle, by which cells convert chemical
genetic information from parent energy into the energy required for life. Dissolved
phosphorus is carried to the sea by runoff and leaching from
to offspring. Phosphorus land. The phosphorus is used by plants, then recycled through
also combines with calcium animals until it is released from waste and decay. Bird guano is
also a primary source of phosphorus in seawater.
carbonate as the primary

silica, respectively, for consumption by the ocean. Thus, adding iron to seawater
phytoplankton and bacteria. When they on a large scale could, in theory, trigger a
become part of shells and skeletons, phytoplankton bloom that would draw carbon
however, the cycle can be considerably dioxide from the atmosphere. This could help
The Ocean Planet

longer because they sink into marine reduce global warming, which is thought to
sediments. Once in sediment, it takes a be caused by rising carbon dioxide levels
long time for these elements to return to the resulting from burning fossil fuels.
biosphere for further availability to organisms. If this controversial proposal were
However, in the sediments benthic organisms enacted, it would probably be in the southern
rely on them for survival. hemisphere, which you have already
learned has less landmass than the northern
Iron and Trace Metals hemisphere. Land is the source of iron in the
Iron, along with several other trace metals, ocean, so the southern seas have less iron
fits into the definition of a micronutrient. because there is less land for it to run off of or
Micronutrients are nutrients that are blow off of as dust. Levels of other nutrients
essential to organisms, but in very are high there, and it is sometimes iron that
small amounts. Organisms use iron for limits phytoplankton populations. Therefore,
constructing specialized proteins, including it appears one could expect a proportionately
hemoglobin (see Chapter Five for more about greater phytoplankton growth through the
hemoglobin) and enzymes. In addition, plants introduction of iron.
need iron to produce chlorophyll, although
iron is not part of the chlorophyll molecule. Light
Other trace metals used in enzymes include Light only penetrates the upper regions of
manganese, copper and zinc. most bodies of water – an area called the
Iron is essential to aquatic life, especially photic zone. Light only reaches the bottom
phytoplankton, and is one of the most where water is relatively clear and shallow. In
abundant metals on earth. However, it’s the clearest conditions, light cannot penetrate
not readily available in the sea because in significant amounts much deeper than
it does not dissolve well in seawater. The about 600 metres/2000 feet; penetration to
small amount that does dissolve readily 100 metres/330 feet is typical. Significant
reacts with other chemicals and tends to light reaches no more than about two
bond with particles that sink to the bottom. percent of the ocean because water scatters
Scientists have found that a lack of iron limits and absorbs light as discussed in detail in
phytoplankton productivity in some parts of Chapter Four. Freshwater bodies often have

proportionately more photic zone primarily reach. It actually makes up the vast majority
because they’re so shallow. of the oceans, though only a fraction of
How deeply light penetrates depends on marine organisms live there. Although this
how clear or turbid the water is. In coastal zone of permanent darkness is too deep to
areas with lots of runoff, penetration may reach as a recreational diver in most ocean
be limited to less than 3 metres/10 feet. In environments, you can reach this zone
the clearest water, a spectrophotometer (an easily in many freshwater environments
instrument used to measure the intensities with constant reduced visibility, such as in
of radiation in different parts of the spectrum) reservoirs and quarries. In many of these,
may detect light as deep as 590 metres/1900 there is little or no light deeper than 18
feet. However, as mentioned, significant light metres/60 feet.
penetration is limited to about 100 metres/330 Of all factors, turbidity
feet, but there can be enough visible light determines the Low
Hig
hT
ide
Tid
from the surface at 150 metres/500 feet for vertical distribution e
the human eye to see by.

Although the photic zone may reach as
deep as 200 metres/650 feet in the ocean,
the most biologically productive region is the
upper, shallow portion. This upper subzone
of the photic zone is called the euphotic
zone. The euphotic zone comprises only
about one percent of the oceans, yet the vast
majority of marine life exists there, thanks
to the light it directly or indirectly depends
on for survival. This is the zone where
photosynthetic organisms bring light energy
into the biological cycle. The lower region of
the photic zone is the dysphotic zone. Light
Ocean zones by light penetration. Significant
reaches this region, but there’s not enough light penetration is limited to about 200 metres
for photosynthetic life in any significant of aquatic (650 feet). The photic zone is the area where
light penetrates, whereas the aphotic zone
abundance. autotrophs is one of total darkness. The photic zone is
The aphotic zone lies below the most. The maximum depth at divided into the upper euphotic and lower
dysphotic zones. The vast majority of marine
the photic zone. The aphotic which photosynthesizers can survive (based life exists in the euphotic zone. Light reaches
zone is where light doesn’t on the minimum amount of light needed the dysphotic zone, but there’s not enough for
abundant photosynthetic life.

for photosynthesis) increases as turbidity the coasts. It’s a common conception that
decreases. Autotrophs do not usually live the coastlines are fragile, but with respect
below 190 metres/600 feet in the ocean, and to nature, they’re anything but fragile. The
not even that deep in most freshwater bodies. coastlines stand up to the ocean’s waves
The Ocean Planet

Certain organisms use different portions of and currents. These areas exist in a constant
the spectrum for photosynthesis, depending state of change, yet here organisms live in
upon the type of photosynthetic pigments they some of the most productive and demanding
use. For example, red algae use the green environments on earth.
and blue ends of the spectrum, allowing them With respect to human effects, though,
to survive at greater depths than the green the coastlines are fragile. Some of the
and brown algae, which use the red end of most ecologically important environments
the spectrum. Red algae appear red because are vanishing or dying due to pollution and
they absorb the greens and blues, and reflect development. While coastlines stand up to the
the reds – the color that the eye sees. horrific bombardment of natural processes,
Ocean life distribution depends, in part, on seemingly trivial human processes often
the need for photosynthesizing organisms to produce widely damaging effects.
remain in the shallow sunlit regions. Typically,
these areas are along coasts where the Coastal Classification
seafloor is shallow and can provide a place of Just as scientists classify the seas into
attachment for larger species such as kelp, as regions depending on physical characteristics,
well as a supply of nutrients running off from they also classify the coasts in various
the adjacent landmass. Coral is also found ways. Similar to the systems used to classify
in shallow water because it relies on sunlight ocean zones and lifestyles the systems used
Personnel of NOAA Ship Rainier
for survival, though as you’ll see, it actually to classify coasts depend on what you’re
needs the water to be nearly nutrient-free to studying. Scientists classify coasts many
survive. ways, but we’ll consider the one most related
to diving, which uses long- and short-term
Coastal Characteristics dynamics thought to cause coasts to form.
Let’s shift our attention from the physical In this system, scientists classify coasts
characteristics of water to the physical into primary coasts and secondary coasts.
characteristics of coastlines and shores. Geologic processes not directly related to the
Although we think of the ocean as huge ocean form primary coasts. Secondary
water expanses, many of its processes and coasts are formed by marine action. Primary Tracy Arm is a fjord with two glaciers near
effects take place at the edges – that is, at coasts form over more extended periods Juneau, Alaska, USA.

Color and Concealment OAR/NURP/North Carolina State
Bob Wohlers University/NOAA
The most common is coloration and patterns
on the animal that match its environment. If the
animal remains motionless, it’s difficult for a
predator to spot. Likewise, prey may wander
within striking range of a concealed predator and
never know what hit it.
Fish that live in the open tend to be darker
on top, concealing them against the bottom
when seen from above, and silvery underneath,
concealing them against the surface when seen
from below. This is called countershading.
Other organisms combine color and shape.
For example, trumpetfish have a color and long The octopus is a master of rapid color change, capable
slender shape that resemble soft corals. They of mimicking almost any pattern or color. Some species
The North American, west coast sculpin fish (Scorpaena
sp.) uses its reddish and brown color along with
orient themselves vertically among these soft not only change color to hide themselves, but as part of
skin patterns, appendages and shape to hide from corals, disguised as a branch, waiting for unwary mating, to appear threatening, or when frightened.
predators. prey.
Bob Wohlers with this ability have chromatophores in their
In both terrestrial and aquatic systems, some skin. Each chromatophore contains a colored
animals enhance their survival by being less pigment that the animal can reveal by constricting
visible to predators or prey. Their natural a muscle around it. The different chromatophores
camouflage uses color and often shape to blend have different colors. So, by revealing the colors
in with the background. You can find several in some chromatophores and not others, the
types of camouflage in the aquatic environment. animal can change both its skin color and pattern.
Squirrel fish
Another concealment strategy is to have no
Al Hornsby (Holocentreidae
sp.) are nocturnal color at all, like jellyfish and comb jellies. These
hunters. Their red organisms have translucent tissue, allowing light
color helps them and color to pass through them. This makes them
blend in with dark harder to spot because from any angle they tend
backgrounds. to blend in with what is behind them.
OAR/NURP/NOAA
Some organisms have vivid colors that, to the
human eye, seem to make them conspicuous.
However, nature is smarter than that. Several
species of nocturnal (active at night) fish have
red or orangish coloration. Water absorbs these
colors very rapidly, however, so at night or in dark
crevices, where they usually hide during the day,
these species blend in with dark backgrounds.
Found on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Some of the most complex concealment
the stone fish (Synanceja sp.) is a master occurs in animals that can change their color and
of concealment. A benthic dweller, it sits patterns to match the sea floor. Some species of
quietly waiting for its next meal to swim flounder have this ability, as do several mollusks, Comb jellies have transparent bodies that help them hide
close to its large mouth. such as the octopus and cuttlefish. Cephalopods while floating in their mid water habitat.

than secondary coasts. A coast can therefore periods of low sea level. Then the sea level
be both primary and secondary. This is rises, flooding the eroded area.
sometimes called a combination coast. Scientists explain that fjord coasts form
when glaciers moved toward the coastline
Primary Coasts
The Ocean Planet

during the last ice age. The glaciers cut large,
Scientists attribute primary coast development deep grooves in the land, which then flooded
to nonmarine forces. These include land- when the sea level rose. Norway and Alaska,
based erosion (from running water, wind or USA, are known for having many fjord coasts.
land ice), sedimentation, volcanic activity and Drowned river valleys are thought to form
the movement of tectonic plates (the large similarly, but the erosion comes from a river.
plates that make up the earth’s surface and The river forms a valley, which floods when
float on its molten interior). Scientists think the sea level rises. Chesapeake Bay in the
that primary coasts have remained relatively US is cited as an example of a drowned river
unchanged since sea level rose after the last valley. Both fjord coasts and drowned river
NASA
ice age. valleys can form estuaries.
Erosion Coasts. Coasts formed by land- Estuaries are partially enclosed water
based erosion are among the most dramatic. bodies where fresh and salt water mix.
These include fjord coasts and drowned river They’re important ecosystems with a constant
valleys. Scientists theorize that these occur flushing and exchange of nutrients carried
from erosion cutting into the land during into the estuary by a river or rivers. The
daily tide flushes
seawater to and
Courtesy of Chesapeake Bay Program from estuaries.
This allows a steady
flow of the nutrients to adjacent
marine environments. Scientists
classify estuaries based on
circulation patterns and flow.
Sedimentation Coasts.
Drowned river Sedimentation forms coasts when Sedimentation coasts. Sedimentation coasts form when
valleys are thought materials carried by rivers flow into the ocean, deposit
to result when an ancient materials carried by rivers flow into the and accumulate. This happens most readily where
river forms a valley, which then ocean, deposit and accumulate. This happens there’s a wide continental shelf for accumulation and
floods when the sea level rises. no drowned rivers to form estuaries. Two of the most
Chesapeake Bay, USA, is an most readily where there’s a wide continental famous are the Nile delta in Egypt and the Mississippi
example of a drowned river valley. shelf for accumulation and no drowned rivers delta in the United States, shown here.

to form estuaries. The area of accumulated Fault Coasts. Coasts thought to be formed
sediment often forms a wide triangular shape, by tectonic activity primarily include fault
so this type of coast is called a delta. It gets coasts. These coasts form as plates collide,
its name from the triangle-shaped Greek letter with the collisions forcing the plates to move
delta (∆∆ )Δ upward, downward, or side-by-side. A fault
Deltas form flat expanses with very fertile coast results when the collision uplifts a
ground. Two of the most famous are the Nile section of seafloor above the water surface
delta in Egypt, and the Mississippi delta in the or when a fault opens and spreads, allowing
United States. the sea to flood a new area. Tomales Bay
Volcanic Coasts. The coasts most in California, USA, is a good example of the
recognizable as having been formed by latter.
volcanic activity occur in the US Hawaiian Mr. David Sinson, NOAA, Office of Coast Survey
Islands. Volcanic coasts result when
volcanoes build on the seafloor, eventually
breaking the ocean surface. Continued lava
flow adds to and enlarges the island coasts.
This process continues in Hawaii.
Courtesy of National Park Geology Service
Fault coasts. Scientists attribute the formation of fault

coasts to tectonic plate movement.
Secondary Coasts
Secondary coasts result from marine
processes. These include wave erosion,
material deposited by seawater motion, and
marine life. The coastal dynamics that change
the shoreline in relatively short periods relate
Volcanic coasts. Volcanic
primarily to these processes. However, some
islands have some of the most secondary coast formation processes, such
recognizable coasts formed by
volcanic activity.
as coral reef building, are thought to be quite

long. types of deposition coasts. Note that although
Wave Erosion Coasts. Constant pounding both secondary deposition coasts and primary
by waves erodes and changes a coastline sedimentation coasts involve sediment
over time. Geological processes are thought accumulation, they differ. Secondary
The Ocean Planet

to give coastlines an irregular shape, with deposition coasts involve ocean sediments
wave action straightening them over time. moved by water motion in sea. Primary
Generally, this happens as wave energy sedimentation coasts involve sediments
focuses on areas that protrude. This wears carried from land into the sea by rivers.
away at the coastline and can result in Barrier islands are a type of deposition
spectacular formations where the coast coast thought to form when material
rises well above the sea. Sea caves, arches, accumulates parallel to shore, forming a
and sea stacks, common along many of the barrier between the sea and the existing
coast. These islands are important because
Fernando Arraya, NOAA
Ship Miller Freeman they protect the main coast from the energy
of storm waves. Barrier islands tend to move
over time, but the migration is slow from a
human standpoint. Many barrier islands are
well developed and inhabited.
A “typical” barrier island has five features:
an ocean beach, ocean dunes, a barrier flat,
a salt marsh and a lagoon. The ocean beach
differs little from other beaches. Behind the
beach, ocean dunes accumulate as the
wind blows sand inland. Grasses and other
vegetation grow in the dunes, stabilizing
them. These dunes protect the islands from
Sea caves are storms and tides by dissipating storm energy.
examples of wave
Although large storms penetrate the dunes,
erosion coasts.
they help preserve the island and reduce the
world’s coastlines, are good examples. energy reaching the main coastline behind
Deposition Coasts. Deposition coasts form the barrier island.
when sea action causes ocean sediments Beyond the dunes is the barrier flat, which
to accumulate in one place. Barrier islands, is a broad, relatively level area with vegetation
beaches, salt marshes, and mud flats are all ranging from grasses to woodlands. Winds

create the flats as they sweep over the dunes. allows sea sediments to accumulate on
Beyond the flats is a salt marsh, which is an shore. Salt marshes and mud flats flood with
intertidal grassland that’s usually biologically the tides and tend to be rich environments full
diverse and productive. The salt marsh leads of life.
into the lagoon, which is relatively shallow Coasts Built by Aquatic Organisms.
water enclosed between the island and the Many coasts emerge from biological activity.
Hope Alexander, EPA Documerica/NOAA Corps Collection Scientists think marine organisms build
coasts by providing a structure that reduces
the effects of waves and current. Perhaps
the best known are the barrier reefs built by
coral. Successive generations of coral polyps
in colonies grow and build on the calcium
skeletons of previous generations. Over time,
this can create massive reefs, including the
largest barrier reef in the world, the Great
Barrier Reef of Australia.
Other organisms can build coasts. Oysters
leave behind shells that can accumulate into
Barrier islands. Barrier islands form on deposition coasts coasts. Marine plants help hold sediment and
when material accumulates parallel to shore, forming a
barrier between the sea and the existing coast. These dampen waves and current, forming coasts.
islands are important because they protect the main coast These include seagrasses and marsh grass.
from the energy of storm waves.
Mangrove plants form mangrove swamps.
mainland. These are environmentally important coasts
Globally, barrier islands form in relatively that you’ll read more about shortly. We’ll look
few places, but you commonly find the more closely at the dynamics that build and
typical sand beach. This is also a type of change secondary coasts in the next section.
deposition coast. There are many types of
beaches, but generally a beach is defined as Forces Shaping Coasts
an accumulation of loose sediment near the Many physical and biological forces combine
edge of a large water body. to create secondary coasts. All of these affect
Salt marshes and mud flats form along you as a diver because they create many of
coastlines where the bottom the environments in which you dive. However,
topography prevents large effects are pronounced and ongoing to the
waves from breaking. This extent that you notice them while you’re

diving. the end of the dive.
Longshore Drift. One of the most significant Longshore drift is the movement of sand
forces shaping the coast is longshore drift, and sediment that occurs as the current
which is the tendency for material to move moves material down the coast. Because the
The Ocean Planet

along the coastline due to a longshore longshore current flows with the approaching
current. You may recall from your dive waves, longshore drift tends to move sand
training that longshore currents result from and sediment primarily with the prevailing
waves approaching the beach at an angle,
generating a current that moves parallel to
the coast.
As waves approach a beach from an
angle, sand and sediment carried toward
shore move along the same angle as the
Waves
approaching waves. As the waves reach Longshore
transpor t
shallow water, the shallower part of the wave
closer to shore drags on the bottom more
than the deeper part away from shore. This
slows the side of the wave closer to shore,
causing it to turn or bend so that it’s more
parallel with the shoreline.
When the water from each wave recedes,
Longshore current and longshore drift result
it does so at nearly a 90° angle thanks to winds. when waves arrive on shore at somewhat
the slowing and bending that occurs. Sand Sand Formation. Most sand comes from of an angle, but the water recedes at nearly
a 90° angle. Sand and sediment flow back
and sediment flow back with the water at erosion. Erosion may be the effect of waves with the water at this angle. The net motion
this angle. The net motion of this backwash pounding the shoreline or it may be inland of this backwash combines with the net
motion imparted by the waves to move sand
combines with the net motion imparted by erosion. In the latter case, streams and and sediment down the coast.
the waves to cause a longshore current. rivers carry the sand to the ocean. Sand
When scuba diving or snorkeling a longshore can accumulate on a beach extremely
current tends to push you down the beach long distances from where it forms. As an
– away from your intended exit area if you example, the primary sand source for the US
didn’t know to account for it. When diving in east coast and the Gulf of Mexico is erosion
a longshore current, you can begin your dive of the US Appalachian Mountains. However,
up-current from your exit point, or dive into not all sand comes from a long distance
the current so you can drift back to the exit at away. The only sand source for some islands

is erosion of the local rock. The distinctive beyond the low-tide terrace. It typically
black sand found on volcanic island beaches, includes a slightly deeper longshore trough
for example, comes from eroded volcanic and, further out, a shallow sandbar. Both
rock. are parallel to shore. Beyond this area is
In tropical regions, much sand comes from not considered beach because sediment
biological sources, such as corals. Erosion movement ceases, at least with respect to
wears away at the nonliving portions of coral beach dynamics.
reef, creating coral sand. A few species,
such as parrotfish, eat coral polyps and
their limestone skeletons, excreting sand as
digestive waste. This is called bioerosion. Coastline
There are several bioeroding invertebrates
also, including sea urchins.
Beach Dynamics. Beaches are very dynamic
because water motion constantly shapes and Low-tide
terrace
changes them. If you shore dive from a beach
regularly, chances are good that you’ve seen Trough
significant changes in the same beach Bar
Beach
over time. Backshore
Scientists divide a beach into three basic Beach
Foreshore
sections, each with differing characteristics
related to these changes. The foreshore and Beach
backshore are the two sections we normally Offshore
think of when we think “beach.” The foreshore High-water
is the part of the beach that water sometimes mark Low-water
mark
covers. It is the region from the high-tide mark Scientists divide a beach into
to the low-tide mark. The low-tide terrace is the foreshore, backshore and
The shape and appearance of a beach offshore. The foreshore is the
the flat portion of the foreshore where waves part of the beach between the
break. The backshore is the region rarely depend on many interacting factors. These high-tide mark and the low-
include the size of beach sediments (grain tide mark. The backshore is
touched by seawater. It includes dunes or the region rarely touched by
grasses that help stabilize this size), wave energy and the degree of beach water. The offshore is the region
slope. Grain size can range from very small beyond the low-tide mark.
section, and extends all the
way to “non-beach” ground. (clay and silt) to large cobble. As the grain
Offshore is the area size increases, so does the beach’s slope

and wave size. This is because it takes more
wave energy to move large grain up onto the
beach. It also takes more energy to move a Spit
given grain up a steeper beach. High-energy
Quiet water rt
po
The Ocean Planet

waves tend to sort the grain by carrying large s
Tran
sediment high onto the beach. There’s less e Waves
hor
energy in the backwash, so the heavier grains Sediment ngs
deposition Lo
tend to stay behind while the smaller ones
rush back to sea with the water. In very heavy moving
waves, the smallest particles may not be able down
to settle at all due to constant wave action the coast
and backwash. with longshore A spit is a length of
A flat, low-energy beach has the opposite drift. Eventually it meets a accumulated sand attached to
land at one end, pointing in the
effect. This type of beach provides a large submarine canyon or the edge of the direction of the longshore drift.
area over which wave energy dissipates. continental shelf. From there it falls off into
This allows small particles to settle, forming a deep water, leaving the system.
typical sandy beach.
Because wave energy varies with Large-Scale Sand Features. Sand
season in many areas, the beach tends movement and accumulation form significant
to change seasonally. Winter storms have coastal features. These features affect water
more powerful waves and tend to carry sand flow and shape the environment.
offshore. During the summer, gentler waves A spit is a length of accumulated sand
prevail, moving sand onshore. attached to land at one end, pointing in the
Ultimately, the dynamics of moving sand to direction of the longshore drift. It forms when
and from a beach must balance. Otherwise, a longshore current turns a beach corner into
beaches would disappear or build up beyond the relatively calm water of a bay. The current
reason. The accumulation and dispersion of slows and can’t carry as much sediment.
sand is generally controlled through a coastal Sand settles out of the water, forming the spit.
cell. A coastal cell is a local region of material Spits often have a hook shape due to wave
transport mechanisms that, when combined, refraction as the waves bend around it. When
form an area with no net sand gain or loss. a spit grows large enough, it may form a bay
As an example, sand may continuously enter mouth barrier. Natural and human-made inlets
a coastal cell through river runoff and wave often cut through the barrier, providing boat
erosion. The sand accumulates offshore, access to the bay.

Tombolos are spits that extend between classification systems. He divided coral reefs
two islands or from an island to the mainland. into fringing reefs, barrier reefs and atolls.
As with spits, they form when the longshore Fringing reefs lie along an island or
current slows. In this case, current slows mainland coast. That is, they form the fringe
around two sides of land, accumulating of the coast, hence the name. Fringing reefs
sand on both sides until have a fore reef, which is the outer,
the two spits grow ocean side with most
together. of the
Tombolos are spits that extend

between two islands or from an
Tombolo Island island to the mainland. They
form when the longshore current
slows around two sides of land,
accumulating sand on both sides
until the two spits grow together.
Coral
Reefs. Coral
reef growth is perhaps biological
the most significant of all the activity. The
biological processes that affect the reef crest is the top
coast. A coral reef can be massive, but only of the reef that takes
the outside layer, the coral polyps, is alive. most of the wave energy.
Individual polyps create a calcium carbonate The back reef is on the land side and has less
external skeleton as they grow. It is this part biological activity.
of its structure that creates coral reefs. As A barrier reef has a similar structure to
successive generations of polyps live and a fringing reef, but it is further from shore.
die, each generation grows on the skeleton of Whereas a fringing reef is part of the main
the previous. Although each generation adds coast, as you read earlier a barrier reef has
only a fraction to the reef, given enough time a lagoon between it and the main coast.
(hundreds of years), enormous reefs emerge. Barrier reefs are usually much larger and
Like other forms of coast, scientists divide occur where there’s rock or other large
coral reefs into different types substrate for the reef to begin growing on.
with respect to how they affect It’s called a barrier reef because it creates a
the coastline. Charles Darwin barrier between the open ocean and the main
created one of the first coral reef coastline.

An atoll is a ring-shaped coral reef that holding sediment in place and absorbing
encircles a shallow lagoon. Darwin was one of wave energy. Mangroves and coral reefs
the first scientists to ponder how atolls could commonly coexist. The coral reef absorbs
form. They stand in deep water with no other much of the wave energy. This provides water
The Ocean Planet

landmasses nearby. With depths too deep for calm enough for the mangroves to grow. The
corals to grow, atolls could not simply grow up mangroves further absorb wave energy and
from the bottom. Darwin theorized that atolls hold sediment with their roots. This slows
form on the remains of volcanic islands. A erosion. By trapping sediment, mangroves
volcanic island in tropical water will naturally limit the amount of nutrients that flow over
acquire a fringing reef. After the volcano near adjoining coral reefs, which is critical
becomes extinct, it sinks over hundreds of because corals only survive in low-nutrient
thousands of years. The reef continues to water. Nutrients kill coral by allowing algae
grow as the landmass eventually slips below to grow, which reduce the light reaching the
the surface. Corals keep building the reef as coral and compete for resources and space in
the land sinks, eventually leaving only the the environment.
circular reef near the surface. Many tropical islands would not exist if
Plant Communities. Coral reefs can grow in it weren’t for the combination of coral reefs
areas with relatively high wave energy, but in and mangroves protecting them from erosion
areas where the waves have generally low by waves and current. Likewise, many coral
energy, plant communities can dominate the reefs could not survive without the adjacent
coast. Seagrasses can live entirely under mangroves – and equally important, many
water in the ocean, but most marine plants times the destruction of a mangrove for
live partly out of the water. In both cases, development has led directly to the decline or
plants provide structure that helps hold complete loss of a nearby
sediment in place and absorb energy. coral reef.
Among the most important of the plant- Human Activities. Just as we shape other
dominated shorelines are the mangrove environments to our purposes, we also
swamps. Mangrove swamps provide alter the coastline. There are two primary
a biologically important environment. motivations for humans to modify the
Mangroves provide a habitat for many coastline. The first is to create new coastal
juvenile organisms to survive until they’re structures such as harbors. The second is
large enough to compete on adjacent to protect buildings or other structures on
coral reefs. existing coast from natural coastal changes,
Mangroves affect the coast directly by such as putting up a protective wall so

that high tide and seas can’t destroy a the sea. Its purpose is to create an artificial
condominium community built just above the lagoon to use as a harbor or beach. A seawall
beach. stands either at the water along the shore or
Human-built coastal structures include at the top of a beach. It acts as a barrier to
groins, jetties, breakwaters and seawalls, block waves from coming ashore and eroding
many of which are popular dive sites. A the land.
groin is an artificial protrusion jutting out It’s easy to understand why a hotel
perpendicular to the shore. These may be owner would want a seawall to protect an
Courtesy of US Geological Survey expensive investment in a high-rise building,
or a developer would want a harbor where
tourists can anchor their boats. However,
human coastal structures interfere with natural
coastal processes. This particularly includes
sand flow.
Jetties and groins block longshore drift.
This tends to cause sand to accumulate on
the upside drift and to become depleted on
the downside drift. Spits may form at the tops
of jetties. Seawalls effectively absorb energy
Groins are artificial protrusions that jut out into the water
but create problems at their ends. Deflected
perpendicular from shore. They are often built to create an
area protected from longshore current or for recreational
purposes. Rick Crawford/NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve Collection
built to create an area relatively protected

from longshore current, or for recreation, such
as fishing. They’re commonly built from piles
of boulders and stone, though they can be
made from sand bags, concrete and other
materials.
A jetty is essentially the same as a groin,
except that it is built to reinforce a
harbor entrance. A breakwater
runs parallel to shore or starts Jetties. Jetties are built
to protect or reinforce a
on shore and curves into harbor entrance.

energy tends to concentrate at the end of the else to replenish eroded sand.
wall. Unprotected land next to the seawall Beach renourishment has several
therefore tends to suffer from increased problems, unfortunately. First, it’s expensive.
erosion. Second, it’s not really a solution but a
The Ocean Planet

Mr. William Folsom, NOAA, NMFS temporary fix. If the structure that’s causing
the erosion remains in place, the beach will
continue to erode. Eventually, the beach
will need to be renourished again. Third,
taking sand from somewhere else affects
that environment also. Dredging sand from
offshore may damage biological communities.
Also, offshore sand has finer grain than
onshore sand due to natural sorting. The
same sorting action carries offshore sand Dana J. Seagars, NMFS, NOAA, Fisheries Collection
away more quickly than the
original sand eroded. The
likely solution to problems
created by human structures
is a change in coastal attitudes
and management. Attempting
to protect the beach with
artificial structures and using
renourishment provide only
a short-term benefit. A policy
change that emphasizes coastal
Seawall. Seawalls are used to block waves from coming
ashore and eroding the land. development that accepts
natural coastal processes
The result of these and other structures instead of trying to change them Breakwaters. Breakwaters are built to create an
artificial lagoon for a harbor or beach.
is that beaches may erode away from where appears a better answer. It will
they used to naturally exist. This unintended be inconvenient in the short term, especially in
effect often leads to more human action. established coastal communities that depend
In this case, the response may be beach on artificial structures. But, in the long term it
renourishment. Beach renourishment is is more effective and less costly to work with
bringing in sand or sediment from somewhere nature instead of against it.

The Ups and Downs of the Seas Global wind patterns are
divided into six regions (three
Today’s scientists realize that the air, land and sea constantly exchange
in each hemisphere) called
material and energy. This is significant because wind can pick atmospheric circulation cells.
These atmospheric circulation
up dry Sahara desert soil and drop it in the Caribbean
cells produce the trade winds,
Sea, changing the underwater environment. The the westerlies, and the polar
easterlies in both hemispheres.
dynamics of these energy interactions cause
water to move in many ways over the
earth’s surface, causing erosion, moving
soil and affecting human activities.
A primary cause of water
motion is wind energy, which
transfers to the water as it
blows across its surface. This
results in two primary types
of water motion: currents
and waves, both of which
can result from forces
other than wind as well.
Surface Currents
When winds blow over
large areas with reasonable
consistency of direction and
strength, significant volumes
of water move horizontally
across the oceans. In the
northern Hemisphere, the trade
winds (near latitude 15°N) blow from
northeast to southwest; the westerlies
in the mid-latitudes blow primarily from the
southwest. At very high latitudes,
the polar easterlies blow from east
to west. A mirror image set of these
wind belts exists in the southern hemisphere.

The Ocean Planet
The major currents of
The energy from these wind systems Coriolis effect, and explains why objects in the world’s oceans.
drives the major surface ocean currents. the northern hemisphere deflect to the right
Some of these currents transport more than of the direction of the force acting on them
100 times the volume of water carried by (in this case, the wind is the force and the
all of the earth’s rivers combined. As with object is the water’s surface). The opposite
a wind-driven wave, surface current speed is true in the southern hemisphere. There,
diminishes rapidly with depth, becoming objects deflect to the left of the direction of
negligible at depths around 190 metres/600 force. The result is that water tends to pile
feet. up in the middle of the ocean basins as
The earth’s rotation also affects the the major ocean currents travel along their
major ocean currents. This is termed the edges according to the Coriolis effect. These
Coriolis Effect

Major ocean gyres. The Coriolis effect
circular water movement patterns are called Waves causes the major currents to deflect to
gyres and play major roles in global heat and Waves range in size from a fraction of an inch the right in the northern hemisphere and
to the left in the southern hemisphere.
marine life distribution. for small, surface capillary waves to towering In this way, the Coriolis effect creates
Currents occur in oceans, but also in large storm waves more than 30 metres/100 feet circular airflow and current patterns,
including the major ocean gyres.
lakes, seas and even smaller water bodies high. They are more complex than they
to some extent. However, the smaller the appear.
water body, the stronger the wind must be to A wave is the transmission of energy
develop a current of a given strength because through matter. When energy moves through
there’s less surface area across which to matter as a wave, the matter moves back
transfer energy. However, many and forth or rotates, but then it returns to
large lakes have sufficient its original position. It transmits the energy
area to generate significant to adjacent matter, allowing the energy to
currents (and waves).

continue. For instance, imagine dropping a
stone in a pond. Waves ripple away from the
splash. The water doesn’t move away, only
the energy.
The Ocean Planet

As you watch the rippling, you can see the
energy move as a series of waves away from
the disturbance as a progressive wave. It’s
called a progressive wave because you can
see the energy progress from one point to
another. There are three types of progressive
wave – longitudinal, transverse and orbital.
A longitudinal wave occurs when the
matter moves back and forth in the same
direction that the energy travels. This type of
wave can move through all states of matter,
transmitted through the compression and
decompression of particles, much like a
spring. Sound is a longitudinal wave
When transverse waves occur in matter,
the motion of the matter is perpendicular to
the direction in which the wave as a whole is
moving. For example, when you shake one
end of a taut, horizontal rope up and down,
the rope moves vertically, but the wave travels
horizontally along the length of the rope.
Orbital waves only transmit through fluids.
With respect to the ocean, these are primarily
the waves that concern us. They occur when
the energy moves the fluid in a circular motion
as it passes. Imagine a floating buoy. As the Orbital wave motion. As the wave approaches,
wave approaches, the buoy moves forward the buoy moves forward on the wave face. It
rises, goes over the crest, and slides backward
on the wave face. It rises, goes over the crest, down the rear of the wave. Individual particles
and slides backward down the rear of the of water move in circular patterns (shown by
curved arrow) as the wave’s energy moves
wave. through the water.

Although the water (fluid) travels through and the period (T: time in seconds), you can
orbital motion, it returns to its original place. determine the speed (S: speed in metres per
Only the energy moves on. Looking at the second) of ideal deepwater waves, i.e. waves
buoy in the illustration, it looks like the orbital in water deep enough that the bottom doesn’t
motion occurs only in a single plane. Actually, affect them (more about these shortly).
the orbital motion continues in progressively
smaller orbits down to a depth of about This results in the formula:
half the wave’s wavelength – the horizontal speed = wavelength ÷ period
distance between the identical point on two
or
waves, such as crest to crest.
You can express wave characteristics S=L÷T
mathematically. This is useful because it However, keep in mind that this equation,
allows you to calculate wave behaviors based while useful, doesn’t account for other factors
on the information you have. H:L is the ratio that influence deepwater wave speed, nor
of the wave height to wavelength. If you the speed of a wave when it reaches shallow
know the wavelength (L: depth in metres) water.
Wave Movement
Crest Crest A Crest B

Still Water Wavelength
Level
Major wave components and orbital pattern. The
wavelength is the horizontal distance between the
identical points on two waves—in this illustration
Trough Trough the horizontal distance from A to B. The crest is the
highest wave point above the average water level.
The trough is the lowest point, and the height is the
vertical measurement from the trough to the crest.
Period is the time it takes for the same spot on two
waves to pass a single point, while frequency is
the number of waves that pass a fixed point in one
second. Note the orbital wave pattern tapering
in intensity down to a depth equal to one half the
wavelength.
Negligible Water Movement Below 1/2 Wavelength

Wave Causes and Characteristics. Let’s restoring forces for the tides, because their
look at what causes waves and how they wavelengths are so long. Surface tension
behave in the real world. Disturbing forces is an important restoring force for the tiniest
cause waves and restoring forces resist them. waves, called capillary waves, which have
The Ocean Planet

The intensity and duration of a disturbing wavelengths of about 1.7 centimetres/0.7
force and the interaction of restorative forces inches or less. Surface tension is caused by
give waves their characteristics. the strongly polar nature of bonds in water,
Fluids tend to remain at rest on the earth. which resists surface disturbances. You’ll
They only move when something imparts learn more about surface tension in Chapter
energy to them – disturbs them. Disturbing Four.
forces that cause ocean waves include wind, You can classify waves based on which
changes in gravity, and seismic activity. Wind restoring force has the most effect. Capillary
is the most common disturbing force through waves are classified as such because the
the friction of air passing over the water’s primary force countering them is surface
surface. Changes in gravity cause a wave you tension. Capillary waves are the first to
probably don’t think of as a wave – the tides. form as wind blows across still water. As
These have characteristics that distinguish waves grow larger, however, surface tension
them significantly from what we normally think becomes relatively insignificant as a primary
of as waves, so we’ll look at them separately. restoring force. Gravity – the weight of the
Seismic activity includes earthquakes wave – takes over, so we call large waves
and volcanic eruptions, which can cause gravity waves. For practical purposes, most
tsunamis. of the waves that concern us while diving are
Each kind of disturbing force tends to gravity waves.
produce waves with distinct wavelengths. Although disturbing forces can be
Wind commonly creates wavelengths of somewhat random in their intensity, duration,
about 60 to 150 metres/200 to 500 feet. The and place of origin, waves tend to organize
wavelength of the tides is about the size themselves into patterns. Waves that are
of the ocean basins, and tsunamis have not so organized travel at different speeds.
wavelengths of about 200 kilometres/120 The longest waves outrun the smaller ones.
miles. Eventually only waves of similar wavelengths
Gravity is the main restoring force for are left traveling together. They are called
large waves and seismic waves. It tends to swell, which is simply the rise and fall of a
flatten waves by pulling water back to level. uniform wave pattern on the sea.
Gravity and the Coriolis effect are the primary Groups of swells with similar

Wavelengths and Disturbing Forces of Important Ocean Waves
Primary Primary
Wave Standard Disturbing Restoring
Type Wavelength Force Force
Wind wave (capillary) Less than 1.73 centimetres Wind Surface tension
Wind wave (gravity) Up to 150 metres Wind Gravity
Seismic wave 200 kilometres Seismic activity Gravity
Tide Up to 17,000 kilometres Sun and moon Gravity and Coriolis effect
Wavelengths and disturbing forces of important ocean waves.
characteristics tend to travel together in from a wave passing overhead if the

wave trains. The first wave in the train wavelength is 40 metres/130 feet or less.
gradually loses energy, which is picked up Because the bottom doesn’t affect deepwater
by new waves forming in the trailing portion waves, their orbital motion progresses
of the train. As the leading waves dissipate, unaffected.
the trailing waves form and join the train. When the water is shallower than one-
The entire train moves at half the speed of fourth the wavelength, the bottom creates
individual waves through this process of drag that affects the orbital motion. This tends
dissipation and reformation. When the wave to flatten the circular motion into an ellipse.
train reaches shallow water, the individual When the depth is about one-twentieth of the
and group speeds become the same. This is wavelength, the wave becomes a shallow-
because depth affects wave characteristics, water wave. In depths between one-half and
leading to the concepts of deepwater waves one-twentieth the wavelength, waves are
and shallow-water waves. transitional, progressing from deepwater to
Deepwater waves occur in water that is shallow-water characteristics.
deeper than half their wavelength. Water Deepwater and shallow-water waves can
motion in orbital waves decreases very exist at the same time. A good example is the
quickly with depth. If the water is deeper giant wave created by the tides. By definition,
than half the wavelength, then no interaction this is always a shallow-water wave because
with the bottom can affect the the wavelength is about the size of its ocean
wave characteristics. A fish basin. For a tide to be a deepwater wave,
swimming at 20 metres/66 the ocean would have to be deeper than
feet wouldn’t notice effects the diameter of the earth! The wind creates

waves, which can be deepwater waves on developed sea isn’t necessarily a large sea.
top of the tides. Capillary waves are almost Average wave heights for fully developed
always deepwater waves because the water seas range from about a quarter of a metre
only needs to be 0.9 centimeters/0.35 inches (almost a foot) to about 15 metres/50 feet.
The Ocean Planet

deep. As in the example of the small pond, these
As previously mentioned, wind waves three factors also influence the largest waves
grow due to friction with the air transferring that an ocean can have. Remember that an
energy to the water. As a wave grows, it ocean often has large, unobstructed stretches
presents a larger surface area to the wind, of water over which wind waves can develop.
allowing more energy to transfer. The three Perhaps surprisingly, at times a wave can
factors that affect the growth of a wind wave be larger than the maximum theoretical size
are wind speed, wind duration, and fetch. for a fully developed sea. Scientists believe
Wind speed is important because the wind such a rogue wave results from the interaction
must be blowing faster than the wave to give of two closely related wave trains. When
it energy. Wind duration is the length of time wave trains come together from different
the wind blows in a single direction. Even a areas, they affect each other in the form
high-speed wind won’t cause large waves of constructive or destructive interference.
when the duration is short or the direction If the waves are in phase, the crests and
makes frequent significant changes. Fetch is troughs coincide so the wave’s heights are
the surface area over which the wind blows. A constructive and combine to make larger
small pond will never have huge waves, even waves. Also, anomalously large waves can
with a high-speed wind blowing for hours, result when waves go against the direction of
because there’s not enough surface area to a current, which makes the waves steeper.
transfer the required energy to form a big This second mechanism is probably a more
wave. important cause of rogue waves.
The combination of these three factors If wave trains are out of phase, so that the
yields a maximum theoretical wave size. crests of one train coincide with the troughs
Above this theoretical maximum, the of the other, the waves cancel each other
disturbing forces and restoring forces out. Neither constructive nor destructive
counterbalance so waves can’t grow any interference can act over distances greater
larger. When an area has reached the than a few wave lengths. Therefore, for
maximum size, it is called a fully developed example, destructive interference cannot
sea. With wind speed, duration, and fetch result in a relatively calm sea during strong
all acting as independent variables, a fully winds.

It’s relatively rare for trains coming wave height to rise.
together to have exactly the same wavelength As the wave continues moving shoreward,
and to be synchronized. They’re usually timed the wavelength continues to decrease and
slightly differently, and interacting trains tend the height continues to increase, moving the
to alternate between being constructive and wave closer and closer toward an H:L ratio of
destructive. This results in a mixed sea with 1:7. The wave passes the 1:7 ratio when the
periods of large and small waves. You’ve depth is 1.3 times the height. Because the
probably seen surf patterns that cycle from crest of the wave is now traveling faster than
periods of calm, build to large waves, then its trough, and because its height is more
regress to calm again, and so on. This is than 1.7 times its length, the wave becomes
the effect of two slightly different wave trains unstable. The instability causes the wave to
coming together. break, and its crest topples forward.
There are three basic types of wave break.
Surf and Breaking Waves Plunging breakers are characterized by a curl
If you’ve ever been to the beach, you’ve seen
waves break and spill their energy as surf.
Have you ever thought about how a wave
breaks?
In deep water, a wave breaks when its H:
L ratio exceeds 1:7. That is, when the height
exceeds one-seventh of the wavelength, the
wave breaks as whitecaps. The same ratio
applies in shallow water, though through a
different process.
Deepwater waves become transitional
when they enter water that’s shallower
than half their wavelength. At this point,
the bottom begins to affect the wave. As it
moves shoreward, the orbital motion flattens,
becoming elliptical. Interaction with the
bottom slows the wave, decreasing
the wavelength and packing Plunging breaker.
the wave’s energy into a as the top of the wave pitches through the air
tighter area. This causes the before splashing into the bottom. These occur

on moderately steep beaches that decelerate currents and longshore drift, waves
the wave quickly, so the top of the wave approaching shore from an angle tend to
literally flies ahead of the bottom. Spilling turn until they’re parallel with the shore. Drag
breakers occur on gently sloping beaches. on the shallower, inshore side of the wave
The Ocean Planet

The top of the wave tumbles and slides causes this, and is known as wave refraction.
down the front of the wave as it decelerates When the shoreline is irregular, refraction
slowly. Surging breakers occur on very steep tends to concentrate wave energy toward
beaches that are almost like walls rising out
of deep water. Since there’s little or no bottom
contact, the waves don’t slow down, but surge
virtually unbroken. Surging waves can be very
destructive because they don’t lose much
energy.
Different types of waves require different
techniques if you’re diving through surf, and
the characteristics of each have advantages
and disadvantages. Plunging breakers can
be difficult because they crash down on you,
but the advantage is they usually have a short
surf zone that you can move through quickly
if you time it right. Surging waves are very
strong and can slam you against walls and
rocks, yet you can use them to lift you onto
shore for your exit. Before diving in unfamiliar
surf conditions, get an orientation to the
appropriate techniques from your local PADI Surging breaker.
Dive Center or Resort. headlands because the wave crest nearest
Refraction, Diffraction and Deflection. to the headland slows first, turning the wave
The previous description of surf is somewhat toward it.
idealized because it assumes that waves Wave diffraction occurs when waves pass
hit the shore squarely. In reality, that rarely an obstacle, such as a jetty. Energy shifts
happens. Refraction, diffraction, and within the wave, allowing a new wave pattern
deflection affect wave behavior. to form past the obstacle or through an
As you learned in reading about longshore opening. Diffraction is what allows very heavy

seas to rock an otherwise well protected rising and falling at the ends but relatively
harbor. Waves diffracted after passing motionless near the center, like coffee
through island channels can alter swell sloshing back and forth after you bump
patterns well off shore. the cup. A standing wave isn’t orbital, but
Reflection occurs when waves hit an has a trough and crest that alternate in a
abrupt obstacle that is nearly perpendicular single position. The point in the wave that is
in the water, such as a seawall. The wave stationary is called its node; the antinodes
retains most of its energy and bounces back occur where there’s maximum vertical
toward the open water. Reflected wave change.
energy can bounce around the inside of
an enclosed area, creating complex wave Destructive Waves
patterns. A good example is the pattern On the open sea, sometimes even very large
that you get with a single splash in a still waves can seem harmless. A ship rides up
swimming pool. At first a single wave set and over them. When they reach shallow
travels from the splash, but when it reaches water and unleash their energy, however,
a wall, it reflects in a new direction as a new their power becomes visible. Waves driven
set of waves. Meanwhile, the other side of the by storm winds can be dangerous to coastal
wave reaches another wall, doing the same areas. There are three distinct types of wave
thing. Soon, there’s no discernible pattern as noted for their destructive power: storm surge,
the reflected waves interact and continue to seiche, and tsunami.
reflect. Storm surge is a destructive wave that
Reflection can also cause a standing forms when high winds push water against
wave. A standing wave is a vertical oscillation the shore, where it piles up. The shallower
in which water rocks back and forth, the water, and the further it extends offshore,
Antinode Antinode
Node Node Node
Antinode Antinode
A standing wave is a vertical oscillation in which water rocks back and forth, rising and falling at the
ends but remaining relatively motionless near the center. The point in the wave that is stationary is
called its node; the antinodes occur where there’s maximum vertical change.

Historic NSW Collection/NOAA
the greater the surge. This is why the US Gulf
Coast has the biggest storm surges, which
can exceed 9 metres/30 feet for a Category 5
hurricane.
The Ocean Planet

When the storm moves ashore, the storm
surge builds on top of the tide. The damage
to low-lying coastal areas can be tremendous
when storm surge and an extremely high tide Storm surge. 3.3 metres/16
coincide. Although hurricane winds cause the feet of storm surge struck
the Florida panhandle in
most structural damage, about 90 percent of September 1975.
deaths in a hurricane result from the storm
back and forth at a frequency determined by
surge. Storm surge is not a progressive wave
the basin size and depth.
and exists only in a cyclonic storm.
Lake Geneva, Switzerland, is known
Seiche is a form of standing wave that can
for seiches and is, in fact, where scientists
be destructive. Seiches, which form in large
first described the phenomenon. All the
bays and lakes as a wave that rocks back
US Great Lakes have seiches regularly.
and forth, can result from a strong wind that
When combined with storm waves, seiches
pushes the water level up on one side of a
sometimes cause waterfront property
basin. When the wind abates, the water rocks
damage.
A seiche is the sloshing of a closed

body of water. The back-and-forth
water movement can be caused
by a local earthquake or when a
strong wind blowing in one direction
suddenly stops.

A tsunami results from sudden water strange, but all tsunamis are shallow-water
displacement caused by a landslide, an waves in the same way that the tidal bulge
iceberg falling into the sea from a glacier, is a shallow-water wave. The typical tsunami
a volcanic eruption, or, most commonly, an has a wavelength of about 200 kilometres/120
earthquake. Tsunamis get their name from miles, yet the deepest point in the oceans
the Japanese word for harbor wave, thanks (Mariana Trench) is about 11 kilometres/6.8
miles deep. There’s no ocean deep enough
to make a tsunami behave as a deepwater
Clocking a Tsunami wave. Although they are waves, when they hit
Care to outswim a tsunami? Just how fast are
tsunamis, anyway? If you know the depth, you
they usually seem to behave more like a flood
can figure it out for yourself. The velocity of rushing ashore.
a shallow-water wave is determined by this Tsunamis are fast-moving waves that
equation:
V =√ gd can travel thousands of kilometres/miles.
where: They’re not much of an issue in the open sea.
V = velocity
They have very long wavelengths and are
g = the acceleration of gravity
(9.8 meters per second squared) nearly imperceptible as they travel. Vessels
and may rise and fall about one metre/three
d = the water depth.
That is, velocity = square root of gravity times feet when a tsunami passes, but they do so
depth.
Suppose a tsunami originates in water that is A tsunami results from sudden water displacement
4000 meters deep. caused by a landslide, iceberg, volcanic eruption, or,
V = √ (9.8 m/s2) x (4000m) most commonly, an earthquake. The long period and
Giant wavelength make them nearly unnoticeable at sea.
V = √ 39,200 m2/sec2 Wave
V = 198 m/sec
Therefore, the velocity of the tsunami would
be 198 meters per second. That works out to
712.8 kilometres/442.9 miles per hour until the Shallow
wave hits shallower water. Water
to their particular destructiveness in harbors Deep

and bays. You may have also heard them Water
called tidal waves, though this is a misnomer
because they’re not caused by the
tides or directly related to the
tides in any way. Seaflo
or
Initially it may seem

very gradually. Japanese folklore relates an
Shahram Saber
incident in which fishermen at sea all day
sailed home to find their village wiped out by
a tsunami. The fishermen were unaware it
The Ocean Planet

had passed under them.
When a tsunami reaches shore, it
becomes much higher. The wave surges
ashore, breaks and hurls tremendous water
mass and energy onto land. If the trough
Devastation
precedes the crest to shore, the wave water caused by the
recedes as if a massive low tide were in 2004 tsunami in
Southeast Asia.
progress. The building period can take
several minutes and has accounted for some The 2004 Tsunami
fatalities. Curious beachgoers, unaware of the On 26 December 2004, more than 140,000 people were killed
danger, have wandered out onto the drained across southern Asia in massive sea surges triggered by the
strongest earthquake in the world in 40 years. Hundreds of
seabed caused by the preceding trough, only thousands more people were left homeless, their lives all but
to be drowned by the wave a few minutes wiped out by the disaster.
later. History records a tsunami surging up a The magnitude 9.0 undersea earthquake struck off the
western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia at 07:58:50 local time.
hillside 530 metres/1740 feet high in Lituya It was the strongest in the world since the 9.2-magnitude
Bay, Alaska, USA, in 1958. earthquake which struck Alaska, USA in 1964, and the fourth
largest since 1900. The largest recorded earthquake was the
Great Chilean Earthquake of 1960, at magnitude 9.5.
Tides Deaths in this quake were caused by resulting tsunamis,
Tides are waves responsible for the, usually, which in Thailand were up to 10 metres/33 feet, and struck
within three hours of the initial event. Multiple tsunamis struck
twice-daily rise and fall of the sea surface and ravaged coastal regions of nine countries in the Indian
that alternately covers and exposes marine Ocean, devastating regions including the Indonesian province
of Aceh, the coast of Sri Lanka, coastal areas of the Indian state
life along the shore. They play an important of Tamil Nadu, the resort island of Phuket, Thailand, and even
role in determining when certain locations as far away as Somalia, 4100 kilometres/2500 miles west of the
will experience strong currents, changing epicenter.
About 80 percent of all tsunamis occur in the Pacific and
depth and changing visibility. Therefore tides many cities around the ocean – mostly in Japan, but also in
affect dive conditions – sometimes improving Hawaii – have warning systems and evacuation procedures
for serious tsunamis. One of the best ways to predict tsunamis
them, and sometimes worsening them. Tides
is to monitor earthquakes, which set off most of the waves.
also affect aquatic life, principally in marine Seismograph networks, wave gauges (such as those operated
environments where tidal currents affect the by International Tsunami Warning System) and satellite
measurements of sea level changes can help warn of tsunamis.
distribution of planktonic organisms. Tidal

movement results from the gravitational assumes that the earth is perfectly uniform,
interaction of the earth, moon and sun. As a that water is very, very deep, and that there
general guideline, the best diving conditions are no landmasses. The problem with the
occur at high tide. equilibrium theory is that the earth isn’t
The cyclical nature of the orbits and perfectly uniform, the water isn’t always very
planetary motion of the earth, moon and sun deep and there are many landmasses. This is
make the tides predictable. Tide duration, why Newton’s theory is too simple to explain
number and range depend on the relative the actual tides on the earth. Some places
position of these three bodies and the have two tides in a day, others have one. In
local topographical features. By using this some places the tides are very extreme, in
information, people can generate accurate others they’re not. Because of landmasses
tide and current tables to predict both the and varying depths, the tides don’t move like
times and heights of tides anywhere in the an unobstructed wave in the open sea. They
world. Aquatic organisms – particularly those are waves that are forced through and around
living in the intertidal zone – simply rely on obstacles. Understanding this requires a more
biological clocks to regulate their activity complex model.
to the tides. Before a dive, check local tide Pierre-Simon Laplace modified Newton’s
tables and become familiar with how tides model to account for tidal variations. His
affect local conditions and aquatic life. model, called the dynamic theory, shows that
The Causes of Tides. Tides result from the there aren’t only two tidal bulges; rather, there
gravitational pull of the moon and, to a lesser are several tidal bulges. This is because,
degree, the sun. They pull ocean water into a in addition to lunar and solar gravity, the
huge wave with a wavelength the size of an imperfect sphere of the earth, the season,
ocean basin. In principle, the sun and moon the time of the month, the shape of the ocean
create two bulges on opposite sides of the basin, and the Coriolis effect all influence
earth. The relative positions of the sun and the tides. Tides rotate around more than a
moon change slowly, so the bulge rotates dozen amphidromic points. These are points
around the earth. As a coastline rotates into where the water doesn’t rise and fall with the
the bulge, the tide rises. As it rotates out, the tides. The tides occur in a pinwheel-shaped,
tide falls. standing-wave pattern. There is no vertical
Isaac Newton proposed this tidal movement at an amphidromic point, but
simplistic explanation of away from that point there may be magnified
the tides. It is called the tidal motion as the tides change throughout
equilibrium theory, which the day.

Tidal Patterns and Currents. Because HIGH TIDE
there are multiple tidal bulges and other
influences, tidal patterns vary with location.
Some places have a single high and low tide +
The Ocean Planet

daily. This pattern is called a diurnal tide.
Semidiurnal tides means having two roughly
equal high and low tides daily, as predicted 0
by Newton’s model. Mixed tides means a
pattern that consists of two unequal high and
low tides daily. Different areas have different -
DIURNAL TIDE
tidal patterns depending upon the location of HIGH TIDES
amphidromic points. For this reason, a very LOW TIDE
long stretch of coastline can have more than
one tidal pattern.
The shape and depth of the ocean
+ Tidal patterns vary with location. Some
basins affect tidal patterns. The range – the places have a single high and low tide
difference between high and low tides – daily. This pattern is called a diurnal
tide. Other areas have semidiurnal tides
depends mostly on the basin shape and size. – two roughly equal high and low tides
0 daily. A mixed tide is where there are two
Large, wide basins tend to have a smaller
unequal high and low tides daily.
tidal range than narrow, shallow basins.
The daily tides create a current that flows
into and out of bays, rivers, harbors and
-
SEMIDIURNAL TIDE
other restricted spaces. The inflow is called HIGHER
a flood current and the outflow is called a HIGH
slack current. The midpoint between high TIDE LOW TIDES
and low tides creates slack tide, when there

is little water moving. These tidal variations + LOWER
are important to people who work on and HIGH TIDE
around the sea. Large ships may only be

able to enter or exit a harbor during high tide 0
to ensure sufficient water depth for travel. LOWER
Sailing ships often use the slack current to LOW
TIDE
take advantage of the flow carrying them -
MIXED TIDE HIGHER
seaward. LOW TIDE

Tidal patterns of
the United States
demonstrate how even
relatively close areas
(globally speaking) can
have different tides.
On the west coast and
in parts of the Gulf of
Mexico, mixed tides
predominate. Other parts
Diurnal along the Gulf of Mexico
have diurnal tides. The
Semidiurnal east coast of the United
Mixed States is dominated by
semidiurnal tides.
In some instances, a tidal bore can form. When the sun, the moon, and the earth
This is when the incoming tide produces are aligned, their gravity works together,
a wave that flows into a river, bay or other raising the height of the tidal water bulges.
relatively narrow area. This is a true tidal You can tell when this happens by the phases
wave (i.e., a wave caused by a tide) and can of the moon. When there’s a new moon (no
be several metres/feet high. On the Amazon moon visible), both the sun and the moon are
River in South America and the Severn River aligned on the same side of earth, and during
in England, surfers can take long rides on the a full moon the sun and moon are aligned on
tidal bore. opposite sides of earth. Both positions create
Spring Tides and Neap Tides. The influence the highest and lowest tides, called spring
of the moon on the tides is about twice the tides.
influence of the sun. The sun has much When the moon is in a quarter phase, the
more gravity but affects the tides less than lines from it and the sun to the earth form a
the moon because it’s so much farther away. right angle. The sun’s gravitation pulls to the
Solar and lunar gravity affect the side of the moon’s tidal bulge. This tends to
tides differently, depending on raise the low tide and lower the high tide.
the positions of the sun and These weaker tides are called neap tides.
moon relative to the earth.

Lunar Effects on Life
Capt. Albert E. Theberge, NOAA Corps There may not be life on the moon, but there William Hootkins/Grunion.org
are certainly types of organisms affected by
the moon. As you may recall, the littoral zone is
The Ocean Planet

the sea bottom area that is sometimes, but not
always, underwater. This is the seafloor that the
tides cover and uncover daily.
Tide pools harbor organisms adapted to the
rise and fall of the ocean. These can include
hardy algae and crustaceans that can survive
several hours out of water during low tide. Other
littoral organisms survive in tide pools – places
that trap water when the tides recede.
Non-littoral organisms also have adaptations
related to the tides. Grunion, a 12–15 The annual tidal cycle triggers spawning in Grunion.
centimetre/4.7-5.9 inch fish, congregates at night Emma Hickerson, FGBNMS
to spawn just after the highest spring tide on the
south western beaches of North America. Taking
advantage of the unusually high water, they
deposit their eggs in the sand and return to sea.
Although the annual grunion run is a predictable
event enjoyed by beachgoers, scientists still
aren’t sure how the fish know when to come
ashore.
Interestingly, it was discovered in 1981 that
corals time their spawning with the tides. The
corals release their sperm and eggs into the
water column together during the neap tide when Corals time their release of sperm and eggs into
there’s minimal tidal variation. The calm water the water during neap tides when there’s minimal
Tide pools are one example of how lunar gravity appears to benefit reproduction by letting the
influences life on earth. tidal variation. The calm water appears to benefit
sperm and eggs mix and fertilize more effectively. reproduction.
Ecology, Ecosystems The Science of Ecology

and Diving With the rise of environmental awareness,
the term ecology has become a buzzword
Now that you have a basic understanding of thrown about by the media and politicians.
the physical characteristics and processes in For this reason, many people are surprised
the oceans and other aquatic environments, to learn that ecology isn’t the same thing as
let’s look at ecology, which studies the environmentalism. You may already have a
intricate processes that connect organisms general idea of what ecology is, but to discuss
with each other and the environment.

ecology clearly it’s important to be precise as the quantity and type of organisms
and specific. in an environment. Ecology studies the
Ecology is the science that studies how relationships and interactions of the abiotic
organisms relate to each other and their and biotic aspects of the environment.
environment. Ecology embraces the broad The goal is to understand how, through
range of disciplines, including biology, relationships and interactions, changes in
physics, geology, climatology, oceanography, an environment will affect those organisms
paleontology, and even astronomy. Beyond in the environment. In marine ecology, the
biotic (living) factors, the study of ecology four branches of biological oceanography,
considers the abiotic (nonliving) aspects of chemical oceanography, geological
the environment. These include temperature, oceanography, and physical oceanography
wind, pH, currents, minerals, and sunlight come together. The same sciences apply
that you have just read about. Ecology when you study freshwater ecosystems as
also examines the biological factors, such well.
Shifting Baselines – Ocean Rescue

Oceans cover more than 71 percent of the from the past – how things used to be. If we filmmakers have launched a campaign to
earth’s surface and profoundly influence all allow these reference points to shift, we lack a educate the public about ocean decline. These
life – they feed people, drive weather systems, standard against which to compare the health scientists and organizations believe that the
provide transportation and natural resources, of today’s ocean with what it was in the past. public simply doesn’t understand that the ocean
and support economies. But, the oceans are The risk is that we eventually accept a currentlyt is seriously deteriorating because communities
being steadily degraded in hard-to-notice degraded state as being normal. accept the degraded health of the ocean as
ways, jeopardizing places of rare beauty and Shifting baselines has everything to do normal.
threatening basic food security for millions. To with bringing attention to the severity of ocean An example of a shifting baseline is the
raise awareness of ocean decline and implement decline. The ocean is vast and until relatively condition of the beaches themselves. Youngsters
solutions to restore our ocean’s lost vibrancy, recently, has been able to take care of itself. of all ages used to surf the wild aqua blue,
society must first recognize how much we’ve However, it is now demonstrating that humans crystal clear waters off California and Hawaii
already lost. Restoring the oceans to the state are overtaxing its resources and ability to without concern. Today, before entering the
they were in a few decades ago will not be recover. Unfortunately, today’s society doesn’t water a tetanus shot and an inquiry into the coli
enough. The baseline by which ocean health realize how dire the situation has become – from form count are essential prerequisite procedures
is measured has drastically changed from coral reef death to kelp forest overfishing to prior to surfing. But, this is accepted practice
abundance and beauty, two or three generations global fisheries depletion – the problem has because the youth of today are not aware of the
ago, to a vastly diminished baseline today. become serious. pristine ocean of yesterday. People today lack
According to The Shifting Although the ocean’s problems are at the a reference point (baseline) for understanding
Baselines Ocean Media Project, global and ecosystem level, all is not lost. how much healthier oceans were just a few
a baseline is a reference point Several prominent marine biologists and generations ago.

Ecology Terminology in which you find an organism. Some species
Ecologists use specific terms shared by are adapted to or occur in very specific
biologists and other scientists. You may be habitats, whereas others range over a variety
familiar with some of these. However, it’s of habitats. Chitons, for example, live in the
The Ocean Planet

useful to keep some of the precise meanings rocky intertidal zone, whereas octopuses live
of these terms in mind as you continue to in a wide depth range and in many different
read this chapter. parts of a reef. The chiton has a narrowly
At some level you’re probably familiar defined habitat compared to the octopus.
with the concept of an ecosystem. An A microhabitat exists on a very small
ecosystem is a distinct entity usually with scale. For example, tiny crustaceans
clearly defined physical boundaries, distinct and worms live in the spaces
abiotic conditions, an energy source, and a between sand grains on the
community of interacting organisms through sea floor.
which energy is transferred. No ecosystem An organism’s role in
exists entirely in isolation (except under its habitat is called its Population
artificial conditions). The ocean is composed niche. Very different
of interacting ecosystems. species can occupy
A community is a collection of different the same niche. Habitat
organisms living and interacting in an On coral reefs,
ecosystem. This includes all species and for example,
types of organisms. A population is a group of cleaner-shrimp
the same species living and interacting within and cleaner-fish
a community. The interaction is part of the both survive by
definition because sometimes two populations feeding on the
of the same species live in a single parasites and
Niche
community. An example of this exists off dead or injured
Vancouver Island, Canada. In those waters, skin of reef
orca pods live relatively closely together, yet fish. To avoid
maintain separate populations that rarely confusing habitat
interact. These pods don’t even interbreed and niche, think
as far as scientists can tell. Therefore, of the habitat
separate pods would be considered separate is an organism’s
populations within the community. address, and the Ecosystem
A habitat includes the area and conditions niche as its job. Micro Habitat

Energy Flow and Nutrient Great
Cycles Example of how
White
Shark
The energy flow through the food web affects energy flows through FOurtH-LEVEL
a functioning CArnIVOrES
an ecosystem by determining how much ecosystem. Killer
energy transfers from one level of organisms Whale
tHIrd-LEVEL
to the next as they consume each other. In CArnIVOrES
all ecosystems, there are fewer high-level
predators than low-level prey. The amount SECOnd-LEVEL
CArnIVOrES
of primary production (how much food
Seal Penguin
autotrophs produce for consumption over a
Birds
period of time) shapes the ecosystem. High Sperm
primary production creates the potential for Bull Whale
Shark
more organisms at high trophic levels (levels
of consumption), and the potential for more
PrIMArY
trophic levels. CArnIVOrES
Similarly, anything that affects energy flow
will also affect the ecosystem. For example,
if pollution causes a substantial decline Benthic
in an ecosystem’s primary consumers, Anchovy Fishes
Baleen
Whale Squid
it disrupts energy flow to higher trophic
levels. Therefore, even with ample primary Protozoans
Tube
Anemone Clam
production the ecosystem would lose many of
the high-level organisms in its community. Copepods Krill HErBIVOrES
Energy flows through an ecosystem,
eventually being lost as heat into the water,
atmosphere and space. Nutrients, on the PrIMArY
Organic/Inorganic PrOduCErS
other hand, aren’t lost. Carbon, nitrogen,
Decomposed Debris
phosphorus and other crucial elements Phytoplankton Bacteria
cycle through the earth’s ecosystems. The

carbon nutrient cycle is the basis for most of cycle is thought to be more limited in aquatic A substantial decline in an ecosystem’s primary
consumers disrupts energy flow to high trophic
the biomass in all ecosystems. ecosystems than in terrestrial ecosystems. levels. Notice the reduction in the amount and
As you read earlier, carbon is This is because, as you learned earlier, types of prey available to killer whales. The
whale population will suffer in this ecosystem
fundamental for all life. inorganic nitrogen must be fixed into organic unless they move on to a more productive area.
The nitrogen nutrient compounds before organisms can use it.

The nitrogen-fixing bacteria that do this
Great
live primarily in terrestrial ecosystems. White
(However, some scientists now suspect Shark FOurtH-LEVEL
that nitrogen-fixing bacteria may be more CArnIVOrES
Killer
The Ocean Planet

common in marine ecosystems than tHIrd-LEVEL
Whale
previously thought.) Seabird droppings, CArnIVOrES
erosion and runoff carry organic nitrogen
compounds (and phosphorus) from SECOnd-LEVEL
CArnIVOrES
terrestrial environments into the marine
Penguin
environment. Seal Birds
The ecological significance of nutrient Sperm
cycles is usually greater than that of Whale
Bull
energy flow. This is because nutrients Shark
rather than energy usually limit how many
organisms can live in a given ecosystem. PrIMArY
CArnIVOrES
You can see this by comparing many warm,
tropical marine ecosystems with cold,
temperate marine ecosystems. The tropical
Benthic
ecosystems generally have more energy Fishes
Baleen Anchovy
(sunlight) available, yet oceanic conditions Whale
don’t supply as many nutrients to tropical Squid
Protozoans
Tube
regions. Only few highly productive marine Anemone Clam
ecosystems (coral reefs) exist in tropical
Copepods Krill HErBIVOrES
waters. Temperate coastal waters, by
comparison, have less overall sunlight, but
receive far more nutrients and produce far
more biomass (mass of living organisms). PrIMArY
Organic/Inorganic PrOduCErS
Decomposed Debris Bacteria
Phytoplankton
Ecosystems in the Open Sea
Let’s look at ecosystems found in the open
diving, and to some extent that’s true. On
ocean and some of the main groups that
the other hand, some of these ecosystems
account for the majority of marine organisms
interact closely with coastal ecosystems, and
that live there. You may not think of these as
all have important roles in supporting the
ecosystems that you would typically see while
global ecosystem all life relies on.

Neuston Ecosystems
Earlier you learned that the neuston are
plankton that live afloat on the sea surface.
This community makes up an ecosystem
that’s very thin – only a few millimetres
deep in many instances. Despite this, the
neuston form a major ecosystem. This is
because it receives the maximum sunlight
and because it covers about 71 percent of
the earth’s surface. The cyanophyte, diatom
and dinoflagellate populations – all forms of
phytoplankton – in the neuston ecosystem
may be 10,000 times more numerous than
in the water just a few millimeters deeper.
This makes the neuston zone an important
ecosystem for worldwide primary productivity.
Marine algae are the ocean counterparts
of plants, accounting for as much as 90
percent of the earth’s primary productivity
and oxygen production. From giant kelp to
phytoplankton, algae are the foundation for all
marine life. The algae are probably the most
significant organisms in understanding the
neuston ecosystem.
Diatoms (phylum Bacillariophyta) are
common in both marine and freshwater Atmospheric nitrogen must be fixed into other
environments. There are between 5000 and compounds, such as nitrate or ammonia,
before organisms can use it. Recent evidence
50,000 species. They are either free-floating, made mostly of silica and their olive or yellow- indicates that nitrogen-fixing bacteria may be
attached to the substrate as a thin growth much more common in marine ecosystems
brown coloration, caused by their primary than scientists first thought.
or found in filaments similar to blue-green photosynthetic pigment – chlorophyll. The
algae. Because most are microscopic, they silica cell wall takes a variety of shapes,
generally go unnoticed. The two depending on the species. Often these
outstanding features of diatoms include ribs, pits, pores, tubercles, spines and
are the presence of a cell wall other features.

Phytoplankton Guide
The Ocean Planet

Phytoplankton Guide
Zooplankton
Permanent
Isopod Doliolum Amphipod Euphausid Flatworm
Siphonophora Oikopluera Arrow Worm Cladocera Ostracod Leptomedusa
Zooplankton
Temporary
Copepod (side view) Copepod (top view) Copepod (larva)
Polychaete Worm Megalops Larva of Crab Sea Urchin Larva Trochophore Larva Nauplius Larva of Barnacle
Zoea Larva of Crab Bryozoa Larva Cypris Larva Barnacle Tunicate Larva Fish Egg Larva Gastropod
Although the organisms that make up the neuston ecosystem are some of the smallest creatures in the world’s oceans,
they are also some of the most important. Because you cannot generally see them, they are easy to overlook. It was
for this reason that this community went undiscovered until someone dragged a fine mesh net through the water and
examined the contents under a microscope.

Because they’re photosynthesizers, unclear. Some scientists think they’re aligned
diatoms are relatively dormant during the more closely with animals than with plants.
winter months. When sunlight levels rise in Dinoflagellates reproduce asexually by
the spring, they photosynthesize, grow and splitting in two. Under the right environmental
reproduce rapidly. During peak growth, in two conditions, they can reproduce rapidly,
weeks more than a million diatoms can result doubling their population with each division.
from a single parent diatom. Because of this, The result is that they can become the
diatoms are thought to account for about 25 dominant species in localized plankton
percent of all the photosynthetic biomass assemblages, which is another form of
on earth. Fish and other plankton feed on HAB. This phenomenon results from a rapid
diatoms during these blooms. increase (or bloom) in the population of
Diatoms are one of the plankton species certain dinoflagellate species that have a red
that can cause Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs tint and can drastically reduce your visibility
– sometimes called red tides). Some diatoms underwater. This is where HABs get the name
produce toxins that become concentrated in “red tide.”
fish and other species during HABs, and may
Budd Riker
cause poisoning when people eat them.
Dinoflagellates are the second most
productive group of primary producers
(another name for autotrophs, so called
because they are the first, or primary, means
by which energy becomes available to life).
Of the approximately 1100 species known,
the majority are marine (93 percent). This is
a particularly interesting group of organisms
because they have characteristics common
to both plants and animals. Like other true The red tint of certain Dinoflagellates gives harmful algae
plants, the majority contain photosynthetic blooms the name “Red Tide.”
pigments and can make their own food.
Like animals, however, they can also propel In addition to coloring the water and
themselves through the water by the use of a reducing visibility, as with diatom HABs, red
long whip-like appendage called a tides can cause serious illness and even
flagellum. Because of this, their mortality for other forms of marine and
relationship to other organisms is terrestrial life — even people. Species of

the dinoflagellate genus Gonyaulax produce dinoflagellate that can create its own “cold”
a toxin called saxitoxin. During red tides, light when disturbed or agitated, such as by
this species is so plentiful that filter-feeding your fins on a night dive. Members of the
organisms, such as clams and oysters, begin genus Noctiluca are generally responsible for
The Ocean Planet

to accumulate the toxin in their flesh. When this.
a person eats a clam or other shellfish with The neuston ecosystem is under much
these accumulations, illness and even death recent scrutiny because many pollutants
may occur. This condition is called paralytic appear to affect it profoundly. There have
shellfish poisoning (PSP). During summer been surprisingly few studies comparing the
months in temperate regions, certain beaches neuston layers to the water layers below.
may be closed to clamming if red-tide Those that have been made find that the first
conditions have been observed. few millimeters to a few centimeters of water
Another phenomenon caused by differ substantially from the water below.
population explosions of dinoflagellates is Generally, neuston layers hold significantly
what is commonly (and erroneously) referred more nutrients and carbon compounds
to as “phosphorescence” of the water at night. among other substances. Surface tension
You may see this as tiny whirling flashes supports eggs, larvae and microscopic life on
at night when an oar dips in the water or a the top film of the water.
powerboat creates a wake. This is, in fact, This isn’t true globally, however.
bioluminescence and is caused by a tiny In some places, photosynthesis and
Al Hornsby
primary productivity are higher below the
neuston ecosystem. One reason may be
photoinhibition, which is exposure to so much
sunlight that it reduces primary productivity.
Photoinhibition seems to be prevalent in
tropical seas. Because there’s little water to
protect neuston organisms, ultraviolet light
may account for some of the photoinhibition.
If this is true, ozone depletion may make
photoinhibition worse as even more UV light
makes it to the earth’s surface.
A second factor reducing primary
Bioluminescence is caused by a tiny dinoflagellate. Many productivity in the neuston ecosystem may
noctournal and deep water species use bioluminescence
to attract prey.
be pollutants. Lead, iron, nickel, copper and

NOAA, Ocean Explorer NOAA, Ocean Explorer
The largest neustonic

community is the
Sargasso Sea, which
is found in the middle
of the North Atlantic
Ocean.
petroleum often concentrate in the neuston accumulate in the middle of the North Atlantic
layers, just like beneficial nutrients. How gyre (the circular flow of currents in an ocean
pollutants affect the neuston ecosystems basin due to the Coriolis effect), floating
concerns scientists with respect to global in massive mats that support a complex
warming. The ocean may be reducing global community. This brown algae forms huge
warming by absorbing carbon dioxide. Carbon drifting rafts that support entire communities
dioxide dissolves from the atmosphere of neuston. Sargassum mat organisms
into seawater through the neuston layers. include tiny fish of many species, crustaceans
Pollutants that affect this may create a barrier and other organisms. These include species
that slows or stops carbon dioxide (and other you normally associate with ecosystems
gases) from dissolving into the water below. close to the shoreline. On the other hand,
Floating debris, whether natural or the Sargassum fish is a species of frogfish
human-produced, acts as potential shelter adapted specifically to this ecosystem. It
and attracts marine life. This creates distinct blends in with the Sargassum, preying on
neustonic ecosystems that thrive around small crustaceans and fish.
floating material in the water. The The Sargasso Sea and other neustonic
world’s largest floating ecosystem ecosystems around floating debris provide
is the Sargasso Sea. Strands of another example of how ecosystems interact.
Sargassum spp. brown algae Predatory fish hide under Sargassum or

The neritic zone is the
water column above the
continental shelf. The
nOrtH AMErICAn North American plate
The Ocean Planet

has a wide eastern
PLAtE
continental shelf and,
Pacific Atlantic therefore, a larger neritic
Ocean Ocean
zone than the west coast.
Little or Wide Shelf

No Shelf
Gentle Slope
Because the continental shelf is relatively
Steep Slope Continental Rise shallow and near the shoreline, the neritic zone
benefits from nutrients in runoff from the shore.
Nutrients also rise with currents from deep water.
The combination of light penetration, shallow
depth and high nutrients make the continental
ACtIVE PASSIVE shelf high in aquatic life and one of the main
MArGIn MArGIn ecosystems visited by divers.
debris, feeding on fish and other neustonic being near the shoreline, in
organisms that live there. These predators many regions the neritic zone
in turn provide food for pelagic fish, sharks, benefits from nutrients in river Hig
Low hT
dolphins and other large predators. runoff also. Nutrients rising Tid
e
ide
with currents from deep water

The Continental Shelf at the shelf edges
As you learned earlier, the neritic zone also make
consists of the water between the low-tide this zone
mark and the edge of the continental shelf. biologically
This zone can range from only a few to rich. All of
several hundred kilometres/miles wide. It’s these factors
a significant marine ecosystem because it is combine
the most biologically productive region in the to make
ocean, and one of the zones in which we do a coastal ocean
lot of diving. ecosystems
The continental shelf depth seldom highly
exceeds 200 metres/650 feet. This tends to productive, as
keep nutrients in the shallow, photic zone well as excellent
and helps retain heat from the sun. By dive sites.

California
Current
Upwelling Canary
Current
Upwelling
Somall
Current
Upwelling
Peru Benguela
W. Australia
Current Current
Current
Upwelling Upwelling
Upwelling
Upwelling brings nutrients from the deep ocean to the shallow and lit continental shelf.
Upwelling notice an upwelling when it’s happening.

Upwelling plays a significant role in the If the upwelling has just started, typically
biological productivity of coastal ocean conditions are clear and cool. Sometimes you
ecosystems. This is because upwelling see signs of related biological activity, such as
brings nutrients from deep water to shallow, schools of feeding baitfish. A few days after
more productive depths. This is especially an upwelling, often the visibility drops due to
significant with respect to nutrients that sink increased plankton growth from the nutrients
to the relatively less productive bottom in the in the water.
deep ocean abyssal zone. The role of upwelling is unmistakable
Wind causes upwelling by creating a because areas with the highest upwelling
current that pushes surface water near activity also have the highest nutrient levels
shore out to sea or down the coast. As the and generally, the highest productivity.
surface water flows away, deeper Examples include the waters offshore of
water flows up to replace it, Peru, the Bering Sea, the Grand Banks in
bringing with it nutrients. In the Atlantic, and the deep water surrounding
most areas, you’ll readily Antarctica.

Upwelling and Survival
One of the most famous stories of survival is realized that they were better off being too busy in the winter.
that of Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer. to worry or entertain doubts. Shackleton’s crew remained stranded
Shackleton arrived in Antarctica with a crew of Thinking long-term, Shackleton realized that through 1915. In October, the men began finding
The Ocean Planet

28 on his ship the Endurance in late 1914. His his provisions, while ample, would not likely last seals and penguins again, but the ice flows
plan was to cross Antarctica on foot with dog- the many months they faced. Having his men crushed Endurance on the 27th. Shackleton
sled teams. Antarctica, history would show, had hunt for food would keep them preoccupied moved his men over the ice on foot and by
other plans. and bolster their food supplies. However, they boat, making it to barren Elephant Island on 16
Through January 1915, Endurance picked were in barren Antarctica, a land without forests April, 1916. After several weeks of planning,
its way through the Antarctic ice pack, trying to or plants. Shackleton knew, however, that as Shackleton and five other men set sail in a
make landfall. Shackleton sought the shortest barren as Antarctica appears to the eye, it is a small, open boat for South Georgia Island, the
route across the continent. However, with winter rich ecosystem. Far from being devoid of life, closest human habitation. It was more than 1289
approaching, the ice pack blocked Endurance its seas are one of the richest areas on earth. kilometres (795 miles) away across one of the
repeatedly. The pack grew thicker and, despite Marine mammals, birds, and fish would provide roughest seas on earth. They arrived on May 10.
repeated attempts to progress, on January 19, Shackleton and his men with the food they They reached the island’s whaling station more
1915, Endurance was frozen solidly in the ice needed. than a week later.
pack. Shackleton knew he and his men would At first they caught seals and penguins for It took until 30 August for Shackleton to
be there through the long winter. The ice pack food. But, as winter came on, the seals and outfit ships and return to Elephant Island for the
would not melt again until spring. penguins became scarce. From their precarious rest of his men. He found that every one had
At first, the crew lived in Endurance, position, Shackleton’s men witnessed the survived the 105 days since his departure. They
consuming the supplies brought for the seasonal ebb and flow of polar ecosystems. had existed primarily on seal and penguin meat
expedition. A shrewd leader, Shackleton kept his Antarctica explodes with life in the spring – bounty from one of the world’s most productive
crew continuously busy with various projects. He and summer, yet becomes nearly devoid of it ecosystems.
these ecosystems live in the upper photic

Coastal Ecosystems zone, instead of the bottom as in the open
Coastal ecosystems are not the ones we sea. Salt-tolerant plants can grow in the well-
think of most commonly when we think about lit shallows, providing shelter. These plants
diving. However, coastal ecosystems are act as the foundation for several different
important because of their interaction with types of ecosystems that cannot exist in the
other ecosystems. And, while they’re not open ocean. The combination of nutrients,
typical dive sites, you may find yourself diving ample light and shelter make coastal
in some of these. ecosystems diverse and rich. While you don’t
Coastal ecosystems are generally highly commonly find large organisms in some
productive for similar reasons that continental coastal ecosystems, they provide a haven for
shelf ecosystems are. They benefit from juveniles of open-ocean species. Mangrove
nutrient-rich runoff from land. Because swamps, for example, contribute to the health
they’re shallow, the benthic organisms in of coral reefs in this way.

Human activities have wide-ranging and other sea life. Although there are other
potential effects on coastal ecosystems. The causes of harmful algae blooms (HABs),
effects are both varied and immediately at eutrophication is the most prominent.
hand. Historically, people have always tended
to live near water, putting us in proximity with Estuaries
these ecosystems. This means that many of Estuaries exist where the tides meet rivers.
our activities potentially affect them, but it’s They’re not found where all rivers enter the
not always obvious. Agriculture, for example, sea, but they’re common where the tidal
can alter these ecosystems when excess range is high. This allows high tide to push
fertilizer washes seaward with rain runoff. The well up river, often flooding large land areas.
variety of human activities is so wide we can’t Estuaries may be large, complex deltas
always anticipate all the consequences to (which you read about earlier) with multiple
ecosystems. inlets, lagoons and islets or they may be
Because the effects are immediately at simple wide stretches of river entering the
hand, coastal ecosystems may experience sea.
the consequences more severely. Estuaries tend to trap and accumulate
Pollutants, for example, often reach coastal runoff sediments, so they’re rich with nutrients
ecosystems in concentrated form. Open- and biologically productive. Most of the major
ocean ecosystems, by contrast, benefit from North American rivers flowing into the Atlantic
a diluting effect. Some deep, open-ocean flow first into estuaries. This is why the North
marine ecosystems are so far from human Atlantic doesn’t have as much sediment
activities that human effects have been flowing in to it as other ocean basins with
minimal (at least so far). comparable rivers. Unfortunately, this also
One particular concern with coastal makes estuaries especially sensitive to
ecosystems is eutrophication, which is an eutrophication because the same process
overabundance of nutrients that causes an traps excess nutrients such as fertilizer runoff.
ecological imbalance. Eutrophication is a Estuaries act as a dumping ground, filter,
stimulus to some species and a detriment and absorber of nutrients (and pollutants).
to others. Fertilizer runoff can dump excess Some ecologists refer to estuaries as the
nutrients in the water, stimulating excessive “kidneys” of the biosphere because of
algae growth or algae blooms. When the their cleansing function. The continuous
algae die, degradation of biomass replenishment of nutrients results in
consumes available oxygen. ecosystems with high primary productivity
The depletion of oxygen kills fish from algae and halophytes – saltwater plants.

These, in turn, support a large community of NOAA/National Estuarine Research Reserve Collection
organisms.
Some factors limit productivity in estuaries.
One is that organisms in this ecosystem
The Ocean Planet

must tolerate wide salinity ranges. The
osmotic stress – when changes in salinity
make water diffuse into or out of an aquatic
organism – caused by the rising and falling
tides mixing with fresh water proves fatal to
many organisms. You may recall that some
organisms can tolerate wide salinity ranges,
but most can’t. Therefore, variations in salinity
tend to reduce the variety of species that live
in estuaries.
The flowering plants in marine habitats are
terrestrial species with adaptations for living
in saltwater estuaries, mud flats and wave-
swept rocky shores. While there are perhaps
NOAA/National Estuarine Research Reserve Collection
a quarter of a million plant species on land, so
far scientists have only identified about 200
that live in the marine environment.
Marine plants can be divided into two
basic types: submergent (plants that live
entirely underwater) and emergent (plants
that live with their roots submerged, but with a
significant portion of the plant growing above Estuaries act as a natural
dumping ground, filter and
the surface). Considering the small number
absorber of nutrients (and
of species, however, marine plants play a pollutants). The continuous
replenishment of nutrients
surprisingly important role in the health of the
results in ecosystems with
ocean. Only two groups have successfully high primary productivity.
Estuaries can range from
invaded the marine environment: seagrasses
simple ecosystems such as a
and mangroves. Seagrasses are an example wide stretch of river entering
the sea to large, complex
of submergent plants and mangroves are an
deltas with multiple inlets,
example of emergent plants. These species lagoons and islets.

are so successful that they generally create nutrients to adjacent marine ecosystems,
their own unique habitat wherever you find while trapping sediment and other materials in
them. runoff from rain and storms. This contributes
Both submergent and emergent plants to productivity by providing the nutrients, yet
contribute food to the ocean’s biosphere. Both reducing eutrophication and other damage
produce oxygen, though emergent plants were the unfiltered runoff to reach the open
generally release oxygen into the air rather sea.
than into seawater. In addition, marine plants
provide important habitats for other marine Salt Marshes
organisms. Salt marshes exist in estuaries and along the
Estuaries provide a region of shallow, coasts. They grow where there’s flat, gently
sheltered water and nutrients, making them sloping, nutrient-rich sediment washed by
excellent nurseries. By providing a rich the tides. They’re normally associated with
haven, larvae and juveniles of open-ocean
species can elude predation and grow before
venturing out to sea. Estimates show that
estuary ecosystems serve as nurseries for
more than 75 percent of commercial fish
species. This makes estuaries critical habitats
for the fishing industry and well as the Salt Grass
worldwide health of the oceans.
Estuaries contribute to the productivity of Highest Spring Tides
adjacent marine ecosystems in at least two
ways. First, surviving juveniles migrate from Mean High Tide
the estuaries as they grow and mature. As a
rule of thumb, in aquatic systems, the bigger
an organism is, the safer it is because there
are fewer predators that could successfully Marsh Grass Pickleweed
attack and eat it. The estuaries therefore
contribute to productivity by increasing the Mean Low
number of individuals that survive the small, Tide Cross-section of a typical
temperate salt marsh
hazardous larval and juvenile community, showing
stages. Second, estuaries Surfgrass Cordgrass common submergent
and emergent aquatic
provide a steady stream of vegetation.

estuaries because rivers provide a constant halophyte adaptation to this part of the
nutrient source. ecosystem. Cordgrass has stomata, which
Conditions within a salt marsh vary, which are pores in its leaves through which it
affects the types of organisms inhabiting breathes. The stomata allow Spartina to draw
The Ocean Planet

different areas within the ecosystem. The oxygen into its submerged parts, some of it
upper marsh includes the areas only rarely oxygenating the anaerobic mud. Additionally,
flooded by the tides. The lower marsh, Spartina concentrates salts in its roots, so
however, includes areas flooded by salt water that the salt concentration exceeds that of NOAA Restoration Center, SE
Region, Mark Sramek
as a regular part of the tidal cycle. In most
areas, that means twice daily. Consequently,
lower-marsh organisms must tolerate
significantly more osmotic stress than species
with niches in the upper marsh.
Salt water is the greatest challenge to
plants living in salt marshes and other coastal
ecosystems. As terrestrial organisms, the vast
majority of plants take in fresh water supplied
directly or indirectly by rainfall. Exposure to
salt water, however, dehydrates most plants.
This is because the low water concentration
in seawater causes the fresh water in the
plant to diffuse outward. Marine plants, on
the other hand, resist dehydration through
several adaptations, such as waxy coverings
or other protection that reduces water loss
and prevents dehydration. Thanks to these
adaptations, halophytes occupy a niche
with little competition from other plants, and Salt marsh plants include Spartina
become the dominant species. seawater. This causes water to diffuse into sp., known commonly as cordgrass. A
halophyte, it concentrates salts in its roots
Halophytes in the lower marsh deal with the roots instead of out. Salt glands on the so that the concentration exceeds that of
constant osmotic stress. The hollow reed leaves and stem excrete excess salt. seawater. This causes water to diffuse into
the roots instead of out. Salt glands on the
Spartina sp. (i.e., any of several reeds of the Plants in the upper marsh don’t have to leaves and stem excrete excess salt.
genus Spartina; “sp.” is short for “species”), deal with seawater twice daily. In addition,
called cordgrass, is a good example of the inflow of fresh water dilutes salt water,

reducing osmotic stress. Organisms thriving The combination of protection and food
in this part of the ecosystem adapt differently. gives young animals a better chance for
One example is Salicornia sp., or pickleweed. survival than they would have in the open
Pickleweed handles excess salt by storing sea. This is the first reason why mangrove
it in sacrificial leaves. When the salt load swamps are important to the environment:
accumulates to a certain point, the leaf drops they act as nurseries for adjacent marine
away, taking the salt with it. Salicornia grows ecosystems like coral reefs. Many of the
another leaf to take its place. species they nurture are commercially and
Halophytes dominate the salt marsh, yet economically important.
they are not food for many organisms. Salt You read earlier that a second reason
marsh plants are tough and salty, making mangrove swamps are important to the
them unsuitable for most herbivores. Their environment is that they filter runoff water.
root systems hold sediment, which, along with By trapping runoff sediment, the mangroves
the accumulation of dead halophytes, creates protect sensitive offshore ecosystems (coral
dense mats of humus. Humus is any mass reefs in particular) that would be hurt or killed
of partially decomposed organic matter that by settling sediment or excess nutrients in
makes up a portion of soil or sediments. In the the water. Today, many ecologists consider
salt marsh, humus provides habitats for huge mangroves transitional ecosystems – places
communities of invertebrates, water birds, where marine and terrestrial ecosystems
juvenile fish, larva, eggs and other organisms. interact with and contribute to the health of
each other.
Mangrove Swamps A third benefit of mangrove swamps is
Mangrove trees form mangrove swamps, that they hold sediments in place. They slow
which you’ve already learned are among the waves and reduce erosion while retaining
most important coastal marine ecosystems, the nutrients used by organisms living there.
especially when adjacent to coral reefs. Mangrove swamps are particularly good for
Although mangrove swamps are smelly, protecting shorelines from storm erosion by
muddy, full of mosquitoes, and generally slowing down and dampening storm waves.
unappealing, their tangled root systems Although a hurricane, typhoon or tsunami will
provide havens for many small organisms. still cause some erosion through a mangrove
Their murky waters provide swamp, the sediment loss and erosion are
nutrients for microorganisms negligible or at least significantly lessened
that are in turn food for compared to the effects on unprotected
juvenile animals. shores.

The fate of mangrove swamps (or just through a semipermeable membrane against
“mangroves” for short) has become an the natural osmotic pressure gradient. This
important issue related to urban expansion is a form of active transport, which you may
and bioproductivity. To those unfamiliar recall is the process of a cell moving materials
The Ocean Planet

with their crucial role as a haven where from areas of low concentration to areas of
juvenile organisms get a chance to survive high concentration. NOAA Restoration Center
to maturity, mangroves may appear to be Mangroves of
useless swampland. Consequently, at one the genus Avicennia
time developers filled in mangroves and built (black mangroves)
housing and office buildings. An even bigger have roots that grow
threat is the conversion of mangroves into in the sediment
shrimp mariculture farms. The concern is below the waterline.
that the loss of mangrove swamps is a loss These mangroves
to adjacent ocean ecosystems. Documented aerate their roots
effects include damage or destruction of coral with snorkel-
reefs to the decline of food fish populations. like tubes called
Mangrove trees are not a single species, pneumatophores, The roots of the black mangrove
but actually a group of more than 50 species which carry air from above the surface to the (Avicennia germinans) grow in
the sediment below the waterline.
from several families of halophytic trees roots. Some Avicennia eliminate salt through Tubes called pneumnatophores
and shrubs. In many respects, mangroves sacrificial leaves, like the pickleweed. Others act as snorkels to provide air to
the roots in the muck. The trees
occupy similar niches as the halophytes that have special salt glands in their leaves. eliminate salt through special
characterize salt marshes, but they’re glands in their leaves.
OAR/NURP/NOAA
bigger, tougher and found in
tropical climates.
Red mangroves, Rhizopora
sp., grow above the waterline
on stilt-like roots. This allows
oxygen to reach the roots.
Rhizopora obtains fresh water
by filtering seawater through its
adapted roots, which exclude Red mangroves (Rhizopora
the salt. This is an example of mangale) grow above the waterline
on stilt-like roots. They obtain fresh
reverse osmosis, which is the water by a form of reverse osmosis,
process of transporting water excluding seawater through their
adapted roots.

NOAA Restoration Center
Seagrasses
Seagrass ecosystems are similar to other
halophyte-based ecosystems in that they
stabilize sediments and provide shelter
and habitats for other organisms. However,
seagrasses differ from other halophytes in
several important ways that make them and
their ecosystems distinct.
Seagrasses are the only submergent
plants, meaning they live entirely underwater
White mangroves (Laguncularia racemosa) lack
specialized adaptations. They’re very saltwater tolerant, except during rare, very low tides. Some
but thrive high on the tide line where they don’t need species live as deep as 30 metres/100
special root adaptations.
feet. You may find seagrasses growing
White mangroves, such as Laguncularia as members of a mangrove or salt marsh
sp., lack such specialized adaptations. ecosystem. More commonly, though,
They’re very saltwater tolerant, but thrive high seagrass grows in colonies spread across the
on the tide line where they don’t need special bottom like underwater pastures, sometimes
root adaptations. These mangroves receive adjacent to or in between coral reef. Their
sufficient freshwater runoff to survive. root systems intertwine, forming a mat below
Mr. Ben Mieremet, Senior Advisor OSD, NOAA
Bob Wohlers
Seagrasses grow in underwater pastures, sometimes

Mangroves are crucial ecosystems in the spreading across vast areas of the sea bottom. Their root
subtropics and tropics. In addition to their systems intertwine, forming a mat that helps to retain and
function as fish nurseries and sediment stabilize the sediment. Most species release pollen into the
filters, they protect coastlines from storm current to reproduce, much like terrestrial plants release
damage and erosion. pollen into the wind.

the sediment. While other coastal ecosystems an entire shallow dive. In many places, there’s
may not be typical places to dive, some a distinct but gradual transition you’ll notice as
seagrass “pastures” often provide interesting you swim through the intertidal zones to the
places to snorkel because they have deeper ecosystems beyond.
The Ocean Planet

abundant life and reasonably clear water. The supralittoral zone, you recall, is the
Seagrasses do not need to have a area only submerged during the highest tides.
freshwater source. Unlike most halophytes, The greatest challenges facing organisms
seagrasses have no means of extracting that live in supralittoral ecosystems are drying
fresh water from seawater. Seagrasses have and thermal stress. A constant spray of
an internal salinity the same as seawater, seawater that evaporates also results in high
eliminating any need for it. The water salt levels.
surrounding them provides an endless supply Organisms with habitats in the supralittoral
of all they need. Seagrasses extract oxygen zone have adaptations that help them retain
from the water and have internal air canals. moisture. Unlike many marine organisms,
Most species even release pollen into the they can either obtain oxygen from the air
current to reproduce, much like terrestrial
Rock Lice
plants release pollen into the wind.
Because of these differences, seagrass Intertidal ecosytems.
ecosystems differ from other halophyte-based Periwinkles

ecosystems. They do not need to have a
Limpets
freshwater source and they can exist in deep
water. Unlike most halophytes, seagrasses
are edible and provide food for ecosystem Rock Barnacles
tIdAL
inhabitants. They are heavily grazed by uPPEr IntEr Limpets
microbes, invertebrates, fish, turtles and even

Chitons
manatees and dugongs.
tErtIdAL Mussels
MIddLE In
Intertidal Zones Algae and
Gooseneck
Seaweed
Ecosystems in the world’s intertidal zones L
Barnacles
tErtIdA
exist in areas that may be above the waterline LOWEr In
at times. Other portions of intertidal zones
reach depths of about 10 metres/33 feet.
Anemones
These are ecosystems you swim through Urchins Starfish
when shore diving, or in which you can spend

or store sufficient oxygen in their tissues reef, wreck or other structure at hand. This is
to endure many hours out of the water. because underwater, like at the surface, the
Additionally, they need to be hardy enough to beach appears devoid of life.
withstand periodic motion and pounding by The reality is that above and below water,
waves. Barnacles, periwinkles and limpets beaches are rich and productive ecosystems.
are examples of organisms adapted to life in They also have important roles that affect
the supralitttoral zone. other marine ecosystems.
The rest of the littoral zone (the area Hydroid
between high and low tide) faces similar
challenges. However, life here isn’t left
Gastrotrich
above the surface for extended periods like
Copepod
the supralittoral zone. Organisms in littoral
ecosystems also face the challenges of
drying out, thermal stress and water motion.
Progressing seaward, the environment
becomes less stressful with respect to drying
out and thermal stress, though waves and
Gnathostomulid
surge remain challenges. Many supralittoral
organisms also thrive here, along with
seaweeds, anemones and mussels.
The lowest part of the littoral zone is rarely
Kinorhynch
exposed to air – only at extremely low tides.
Rotifer
With ample water, nutrients and sunlight, this
is a highly productive region in most coastal
ecosystems. One challenge to life here,
therefore, is massive competition.
Ciliate
Beaches
To the untrained eye, the typical sandy
beach appears nearly devoid of life. It looks Nematode
almost like a desert, with only an
Beach ecosystems include worms, mollusks and fish
occasional shell or sea star. that live in the submerged beach sand. The organisms
It’s not common to dive from living among the sand grains, while tiny, are so diverse
that about a third of all known animal phyla have
a beach where there’s no representatives in the meiofauna.

Sand protects the coastline. As a wave Kelp and Seaweed
comes ashore, it picks up sand. Each sand Ecosystems
grain dissipates a miniscule portion of wave “Seaweed” refers to a diverse group of red,
energy. That portion times billions and billions green and brown algae, sometimes called
The Ocean Planet

of sand grains reduces the forces that wear macro algae. All of these provide the bases
away the coastline. This is the first way that for ecosystems among their stipes, holdfasts
beaches affect ecosystems. They reduce and blades. Among these, kelp ecosystems
sedimentation caused by coastal erosion. are probably the most diverse and directly
Beach ecosystems are rich in organisms relevant to diving.
living on the organic material in the sand You find kelp forests globally in cool
mix. Complex organisms, including worms, water. This is because they require the
mollusks and fish live in the submerged beach nutrients found in cool oceans. The richest
sand. The meiofauna – benthic organisms and most productive kelp ecosystems exist
that live in the spaces between sand grains – in coastal waters with upwellings. In clear
are so diverse that the community of a single water with ample sunlight and nutrients, giant
beach ecosystem could take years to catalog. kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) can reach 60
About a third of all known animal phyla have metres/200 feet long, providing habitats for a
representatives in the meiofauna. Additionally, substantial ecosystem. Kelp forests and other
algae and other nonanimal organisms live seaweed-based ecosystems are among the
among the sand grains. Bob Wohlers
The interaction between water motion and
the meiofauna provides the second way that
beaches affect other marine ecosystems. The
physical and organic processes in the beach
ecosystem break down organic and inorganic
materials. This makes the beach a giant filter
that processes compounds from runoff to the
sea or washed up from the sea.
The next time you’re diving from a beach
to visit a reef or other structure, swim out The fastest growing alga known,
giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera)
into the sandy area and look closely. With can reach 60 metres/200 feet)
patience and by developing your observation in length. It provides a lush
habitat and supports or is an
skills, you’ll begin to notice an incredible integral part of some of the
diversity that used to be invisible to you. most biologically productive
ecosystems.

most biologically productive. Their primary many temperate coastal ecosystems, much Budd Riker
production exceeds that of terrestrial forests as coral is the foundation for many tropical
and is almost equal to that of coral reefs. marine ecosystems. Among other locations,
Members of phylum Phaeophyta, kelp forests dominate the coasts of British
commonly called brown algae, are more Columbia, California, Baja Mexico, much of
structurally complex than other algae. Many the Mediterranean, and New Zealand.
species of brown algae have holdfasts, Because it depends on sunlight, cool
blades, leathery flexible stipes and gas=filled water, and nutrients, kelp responds noticeably
pneumatocysts. Holdfasts anchor them to to environmental changes. During El Niño
rock much as roots anchor terrestrial plants events, for example, the coastal water
(but holdfasts are not roots because they temperatures in Southern California rise.
don’t carry nutrients). The blades are the This often causes massive die offs of kelp,
phaeophyte equivalent of leaves. Many disrupting the local ecosystems for a year or
species live in the littoral zone, so their stipes more.
– the equivalent of stems – bend easily to Kelp ecosystems provide a clear example
resist breakage by waves. To keep the blades of why it’s important to study ecology, not
close to the surface and sun, many species simply individual organisms. For example,
have pneumatocysts. Pneumatocysts are until protected, in some areas the sea otter,
natural gas-filled float structures that lift the which is a predator common to kelp forests,
algae off the bottom. The blades also resist was hunted nearly to extinction in some areas Brown algae, such as giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera),
are more structurally complex than other algae.
drying out, which helps them when stranded for its fur. Amazingly, in these areas the kelp Anchored to the bottom by holdfasts, kelp stipes reach
partially or wholly above surface during low began to die off rapidly. towards the surface and have blades buoyed by
pneumatocysts.
tide. Brown algae get their distinctive olive- It turns out that while few organisms eat
green/brown color from a pigment called kelp, one that does is the sea urchin. These
fucoxanthin. echinoderms graze on the rubbery holdfasts
Of the 1500 species of brown algae, that anchor the kelp. Sea urchins are also one
the largest and most impressive are the of the sea otter’s primary foods. The energy
various species of kelp. Kelp species have required by a mammal living in cool seawater
holdfasts, stipes, and pneumatocysts. Giant is considerable, so the average sea otter eats
kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) can grow more a substantial number of sea urchins.
than 30 centimetres/12 inches per day and Killing the sea otters disrupted the kelp
reach the surface from 24 metres/ forest’s ecological balance by removing the
80 feet deep. Kelp is important sea urchin’s chief predator. This allowed
because it is the foundation for the sea urchin population to rise relatively

unchecked. More sea urchins meant more matter can clog and smother the polyps.
grazing on kelp holdfasts. In the end, the Coral ecosystems also require water
sea urchins ate the kelp faster than it could that’s relatively free of nutrients. This may
grow. This is an excellent example of the seem odd considering the high productivity of
The Ocean Planet

interdependence that exists within an this ecosystem. However, coral ecosystems
ecosystem. It shows that each organism efficiently pass on and preserve organic
contributes to a balance that allows life to material. The lack of nutrients in the water
thrive there. actually protects coral from competitive
organisms, such as species of algae.
Coral Reef Ecosystems This is why eutrophication is one of the
Of all the earth’s ecosystems, few compare to biggest threats to coral ecosystems. A rise
the coral reef. Most scientists believe they are in water nutrient levels allows competitive
the most taxonomically diverse ecosystems
in the ocean. The Central-South Pacific area
between Papua New Guinea and the Sulu
and Celebes Seas has the world’s highest
marine species diversity. More than 2000
species of fish are known, with new species
discovered every year. Scientists think corals
and coral reefs originated here because
the further you go from this area, the less
diversity you find on coral reefs.
While supporting immense diversity,
coral reef ecosystems are also fragile. For
a couple of decades now, scientists, divers
and others familiar with coral have been
worried about the health of these ecosystems.
The conditions coral requires for life are
narrow and specific. It lives in clear water so
that dinoflagellates (called zooxanthellae)
coexisting in the polyps have light for
photosynthesis. It also needs water that’s
The area between Papua New Guinea and the Sulu and
in moderate motion to prevent sediments Celebes Seas has the world’s highest marine species
from accumulating on the polyps. Particulate diversity. More than 500 species of coral are known.

algae to overgrow and smother coral colonies. principles of ecology to the overall picture.
It also allows plankton to grow, reducing water The concern isn’t for the coral alone, but
clarity and the amount of sunlight reaching the entire coral ecosystem. Just as the loss
the polyps. To some extent, these are natural of sea otters threatens kelp, the loss of the
processes, but over the last several decades, corals threatens other organisms in the
eutrophication levels have been rising. ecosystem.
Correspondingly, many reefs once dominated Parrotfish, for example, feed on coral. If
by corals now have algae overgrowing them. the coral dies, the parrotfish will dwindle as
Coral reefs are so sensitive to this that it they lose their primary food source. Predators
has been documented, for example, that that feed on the parrotfish may similarly suffer.
cutting trees for lumber on the interior of an Other organisms will not survive because
island can destroy surrounding coral. This the competitive algae don’t provide the same
is because without the trees to hold the soil, habitat as a coral reef. The decline of coral is
more sediment runs off into the ocean when likely to have a domino effect throughout not
it rains. The lesson is that we have to be just the coral ecosystem but the entire marine
cautious; human activities that seem remote ecosystem. Ultimately, that means the loss of
and unrelated to an ecosystem can, in fact, coral will affect the global ecosystem in ways
have tremendous effects there. that ecologists are still trying to determine.
Besides eutrophication, thermal stress
threatens coral reef ecosystems. A concern is Polar Ecosystems
that global warming may raise temperatures Because of their nutrient-rich water, the
above coral’s survival threshold. Another oceans at both poles are among the earth’s
threat comes from sedimentation resulting most productive seas. The extreme cold and
from coastal dredging and construction. This darkness of winter reduce bioproductivity,
causes sediment to accumulate on the polyps but productivity during the warm, long days
more quickly than water motion can remove of summer more than offsets the winter lull.
it. Coral diseases seem to be more common. Every species of great whale and many
These are “attacks” by fungi, cyanophytes, other marine mammals feed in the polar
bacteria and other competitive algae regions. These are the only seas capable
damaging and displacing corals. Scientists of supporting large populations of these
are still determining the likely sources and energy-hungry giants. While coral reefs are
causes for many of these. characterized by high diversity of relatively
Regardless of the specific small populations, the polar seas are the
threat, it’s important to apply the opposite. The have low diversity but high

populations. For these reasons, a growing these reasons, life is comparatively scarce
number of divers visit the poles at some point under the permanent ice cap. Species that
in their diving careers. do live in these conditions have special
adaptations. These include antifreezing
The Arctic
The Ocean Planet

compounds in their blood and extremely low
The Arctic Circle consists of a ring of shallow metabolisms.
continental shelf that’s unbroken except At the edge of the cap, however, life
for the Bering Straight and the upper North intensifies during the warmer months. As the
Atlantic. The top of the earth itself, however, sun melts ice in the spring, water flows off the
is a deep basin holding a sea within this ring. ice, sinking into deep water. Warm currents
Much of this sea is permanently frozen. from the south interact with the cold water
Marine ecosystems in the Arctic face the at the continental shelf edges. This process
challenges of reduced sunlight under the ice churns up nutrients from the shelf bottom.
and water that’s barely above freezing. For Extremely high productivity occurs along
an arc in the North Pacific and
across the North Atlantic from
April to August. These waters
support massive fisheries,
marine mammals and other
organisms. This ecosystem
flourishes from the nutrients
churned up from the bottom.
The Arctic Circle consists of shallow

continental shelf that’s unbroken except
for the Bering Straight and the upper North
Atlantic. Much of it is permanently frozen.

The Antarctic 65° to 70° south latitude where the nutrient-
Antarctica has a more extreme climate rich Antarctic water sinks under the warmer
than the Arctic. This is partially because water of the more northern oceans. This is
the seasons in the southern hemisphere the largest nutrient-rich area on earth. The
are more extreme than in the northern Antarctic Divergence supports massive
hemisphere. However, this is also because phytoplankton blooms from November
the Antarctic differs geographically from the through the southern summer. The copepod
Arctic. Antarctica is a continent, not a frozen and krill populations are larger than any
sea. It’s also not enclosed by the continental other species population found in any other
shelves of other continents, but has its own ecosystem. Single krill swarms have been
continental shelf. The world’s deepest and estimated as to exceed 100 million tons,
broadest ocean ring surrounds the Antarctic. which is more than the world’s annual
For these reasons, the Antarctic ecosystem commercial fish catch.
has significant differences as well as
similarities compared to the Arctic.
During the winter, sea ice surrounding
Antarctica almost doubles the area around
the continent. This adds an area about the
size of North America. When summer comes,
the melting of this sheet sets off an explosion
of bioproductivity.
When the ice sheet expands, cold salty
water forms. This heavy water flows away
from the continent. As it sinks, it mixes with
deep ocean water to form the most dense
water in the ocean, the Antarctic Bottom
Water, which is found in the deep ocean The southern
basins. Wind-driven currents move water ocean surrounding
Antarctica’s
away from the continent at the surface, continental shelf is
causing upwelling in the area. the world’s deepest
ocean. The continental
This nutrient-rich deep water shelf area is nutrient
reaches the surface at the rich, making it one of
the most biologically
Antarctic Divergence, an productive places on
area located at approximately earth.

The productive water zone extends adaptations. To survive, some fish have
northward until it meets the warm Atlantic, antifreezing characteristics and many
Indian and Pacific waters. At this point, the organisms have slowed metabolisms.
cold Antarctic water sinks under the warm Because they have very slow metabolisms,
The Ocean Planet

water. This area is called the Antarctic some fish have no blood hemoglobin. Their
Convergence. It is located at approximately blood carries sufficient oxygen without it.
50° to 60° south latitude. Because the Antarctic is a relatively isolated
As in the Arctic, organisms living in the ecosystem, most species are specialized and
coldest Antarctic ecosystems have special found only in the Antarctic.
Be an Educated Consumer
World populations are crazy for seafood and are seals and other marine mammals. to pressure on the fishery or the methods used.
eating it in record numbers. According to the Seafood is vital to more than 200 million This list changes, so check out seafoodwatch.org
World Resources Institute, consumption of fish people who depend on fisheries for both nutrition for current recommendations.
and fishery products has risen by 240 percent and their livelihood. But, fish population declines When buying seafood, look for eco-labels
since 1960. That equates to about 91 million tons can also alter the health of marine environments such as Dolphin Friendly or Marine Stewardship
of seafood consumed yearly – more than beef around the world. As consumers and divers Council. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
and poultry combined. there are many things we can do to contribute to has developed an environmental standard for
So, what’s the problem? According to the solutions. We have the power to help conserve sustainable and well-managed fisheries. This
United Nations (UN) approximately 70 percent underwater environments, improve management designation rewards environmentally responsible
of global fish populations are now depleted, of diminished species and preserve fisheries for fishery management practices. The label ensures
overfished or on the brink of being overfished. future generations. consumers that the product has not contributed
Pollution, habitat destruction and overfishing You can help by being selective about to overfishing. Listings of MSC labeled products
(fishing faster than a population can replenish) all what seafood you eat. Many organizations can be found on the internet.
contribute to this dramatic decline. Major shifts in inform consumers about which seafoods to Ask your local supermarkets and restaurants if
ocean temperature, such as El Niño events and avoid to reduce overfishing and damage to the they stock seafood with sustainable labels. If not,
decadal oscillations also contribute to declines underwater environment. The Seafood Watch or they do not know what you are talking about,
in fish stocks – particularly when management Guide for America, The Good Fish Guide for educate and encourage them to add sustainable
practices do not take this into account. the UK, and The Sustainable Seafood Guide species to their product line. Your consumer
But, it’s not just the targeted seafood that’s for Australia are examples of guides that help power can influence local businesses.
at risk. Bycatch – a result of commercial fishing make sustainable seafood choices part of your Don’t assume that farmed seafood is
practices – ensnares millions of non-target fish lifestyle. These guides provide great information always an environmentally friendly alternative.
species as well as sea turtles, sea birds and from the fishing methods used and their impacts Aquaculture may sound like the solution to
sharks each year via hooks, lines and nets. to rating fish based on the status, sustainability overfishing, but it’s not without its problems.
This unwanted catch is seldom reported, but and fisheries impact of each species. At the end Depending on the species farms can introduce
is discarded back into the ocean. Scientists of this box is a list of recommendations regarding or increase waste, toxins, disease and chemicals
estimate that 27 million tons of bycatch – nearly what to order and what to avoid when dining on into the natural environment. In addition,
one third of the total world fish catch, goes seafood at your favorite restaurant or purchasing carnivorous species like salmon and shrimp
unreported. And the International Whaling at your market. require an unsustainable amount of fish as food
Commission reports that these numbers include Note that some fish are acceptable choices to reach marketable size. One pound of farmed
between 65,000 and 80,000 whales, dolphins, from one source/fishery, but not from another due salmon, for example, requires from one to two

kilograms/two to five pounds of ocean fish as increase fish stocks, and therefore fishing, outside a national action plan, encourage the government
food. By knowing your seafood source you can MPA boundaries. to do so.
use sustainable seafood guides and eco-labels to Make sure you’re well informed before starting Eat lower down on the food chain. When
guide your decisions. On the other hand, farmed an aquarium hobby. Aquarium or ornamental you eat corn you are a primary consumer. When
oysters and mussels are environmentally better fisheries need to be carefully and responsibly you eat beef or chicken you’re a secondary
choices than wild caught ones. managed to prevent damage to coral reefs and consumer, and when you eat fish you may be
Stay tuned in to fisheries management issues their inhabitants. Be aware of conservation and a fifth-level consumer. It takes approximately
and support initiatives that improve fisheries management issues associated with the trade of 10,000 kilograms of primary producers to
through responsible management, conservation, ornamental species. create every kilogram of tuna. This isn’t just a
fishing practices and fishing gear. Turtle Excluder Be sure your country has implemented biological curiosity. It is a significant economic
Devices (TEDs), for example, are a fishing gear the United Nations (UN) Code of Conduct for and environmental issue influencing how human
modification that allows larger animals like sea Responsible Fisheries and related International society feeds itself.
turtles and sharks to pass through shrimp trawl Plans of Action (IPOA). These voluntary measures Educate your family, friends and coworkers.
nets. aim to ensure the effective conservation and Tell them why you support sustainable fisheries
Support the establishment of Marine Protected management of living aquatic resources. A major and how they can help make a difference.
Areas (MPAs). Research indicates that properly focus of these actions is to halt illegal, unreported Consumers, through their voices and
designed MPAs preserve biodiversity while and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which can cause pocketbooks, have the power to make positive
providing refuge and nursery grounds for fish problems for international fisheries management. change – but only if they make the effort.
species. These MPAs also have the potential to If your country hasn’t implemented the Code and
Best Choices Good Alternatives Avoid

Catfish (farmed) Clams (wild-caught) Caviar (wild-caught)
Caviar (farmed) Cod: Pacific Chilean Seabass/Toothfish
Clams (farmed) Crab: Blue Cod: Atlantic
Crab: Dungeness Crab: imitation/Surimi Crab: King (imported)
Crab: Snow (Canada) Crab: King (Alaska) Flounders (Atlantic) except Summer/Fluke
Crab: Stone Crab: Snow (US) Groupers
Halibut: Pacific Flounder: Summer/Fluke Halibut: Atlantic
Lobster: Spiny (US) Lobster: American/Maine
Monkfish
Mussels (farmed) Mahi mahi/Dolphinfish/Dorado
Orange Roughy
Oysters (farmed) Oysters (wild-caught)
Salmon (wild-caught from Alaska) Pollock Rockfish (Pacific)
Sardines Scallops: Bay Salmon (farmed, including Atlantic)
Shrimp (trap-caught) Scallops: Sea Sharks*
Striped Bass (farmed) Shrimp (US farmed or trawl-caught) Shrimp (imported farmed or trawl-caught)
Sturgeon (farmed) Soles (Pacific) Snapper: Red
Tilapia (farmed) Squid Soles (Atlantic)
Trout: Rainbow (farmed) Swordfish* (US) Sturgeon (imported wild-caught)
Tuna: Albacore (troll/pole-caught) Tuna: Albacore* (longline-caught) Swordfish* (imported)
Tuna: Bigeye (troll/pole-caught) Tuna: Bigeye (longline-caught) Tuna: Bluefin
Tuna: Yellowfin (troll/pole-caught) Tuna: Yellowfin (longline-caught)
Tuna: canned light *Asterisk indicates a FDA & EPA mercury advisory
Tuna: canned white/Albacore* for women of child-bearing age and children.

Deep Sea Ecosystems found at depths between about 3000 and
You won’t be scuba diving to a deep sea 4000 metres/ 9900 and 13,000 feet. Without
ecosystem, but with submersibles and primary productivity, the abyssal zone lacks
ROVs, you may at least visit them directly dense life concentrations. However, there’s
The Ocean Planet

or indirectly. Some of the most spectacular vast species diversity.
documentaries involving shipwrecks like the Marine snow makes the deep ocean rich in
Titanic, the Bismarck and others involve deep nutrients that are spread out evenly. Without
sea ecosystems, so you may have seen them photosynthesis, there’s insufficient energy
on television. accumulated to support a great abundance
In the deep ocean beyond the of multicellular organisms. Those that do
continental shelves, the sun’s light and survive are primarily echinoderms, such as
warmth never reach the bottom and sea cucumbers, sea lilies and brittle stars.
the average temperature is 2°C/35.6°F. Concentrations of large organisms are rare.
Without sunlight, there’s no photosynthesis; However, submersibles have seen rattails,
consequently, there’s no primary productivity deep-sea dogfishes, catsharks, crustaceans,
in most of the deep ocean. Without much mollusks and many species of deep-ocean
primary productivity, most of the deep ocean fish.
gets its nutrients from above, much of it as The greatest diversity in the abyssal zone
marine snow. Marine snow is the constant fall is found in the meiofauna. As in beach sand,
of sediment, dead organisms, fecal pellets you can find representatives from almost all
and other nutrients from the productive the animal phyla living in the deep-ocean
shallow waters above. As you’ll see, the mud or sediment. The concentrations and
constant rain of nutrients from above is populations are lower than in shallower seas,
the basis for almost, but not quite all of the but the diversity is not.
ecosystems unique to the deep sea. Earlier
you learned that in most aquatic ecosystems, Whale Falls
life is limited by nutrients, not energy. In the Although the abyssal plains are typical of
deep sea, however, it’s the other way around. most of the deep-ocean ecosystems, there
are some important exceptions, including
The Abyssal Zone whale falls. A whale fall is exactly what the
Most of the deep ocean is the abyssal zone, name says – a place where a dead whale
which covers about 30 percent of the earth’s comes to rest on the deep-ocean floor.
surface. These abyssal plains are some of Whale carcasses provide a massive
the smoothest and flattest areas on earth, concentration of nutrients in areas that

normally only receive diffuse marine colonization of these deep-sea ecosystems,
snow. Scientists think that the result is the which would make whale falls substantially
development of a distinct local ecosystem that important ecosystems.
goes through three stages. NOAA, Ocean Explorer
The first stage is when the scavengers
arrive. They consume the whale’s soft tissues
in a few months. Hagfish, grenadiers, deep
sea spider crabs and sleeper sharks are
some of the scavengers associated with this
stage. The second stage lasts about a year.
Worms, small crustaceans, and other small
organisms feed on the remaining soft tissue
and the tissue dispersed around the whale
as detritus. Marine biologists are still trying to
determine exactly how these organisms find
their way to the whale. Whale fall in Santa Cruz basin.
The final stage involves the decay of the
whale skeleton. This can last several years or Although called “whale falls,” bear in mind
even decades. The bones provide a steady that any large organism sinking to the deep-
supply of sulfide as they’re broken down. ocean bottom creates these ecosystems.
Chemosynthetic bacteria live on this sulfide. Even wood, kelp and Sargassum, as well as
These bacteria are significant because they’re large fish provide a nutrient concentration
autotrophs that do not photosynthesize, but that supports a local ecosystem for several
create carbohydrates from inorganic chemical months to a year.
energy. Chemosynthesis is the only type
of primary productivity in the deep ocean. Hydrothermal Vents and Cold
Chemosynthetic bacteria living on whale fall Seeps
sulfide create a food source for tubeworms, Hydrothermal vents are hot mineral springs
crustaceans, gastropods and bivalves. These found in the deep ocean. Heated ocean
bacteria appear to be the same as those water flows from these vents, loaded with
associated with hydrothermal vent and cold dissolved minerals, providing one of the few
seep ecosystems (more about places of abundant primary productivity in the
these shortly). It may be deep sea. Chemosynthesizing bacteria that
that whale falls enable the live on dissolved sulfides form the base of

these ecosystems, providing food for several sulfide-consuming bacteria, but depending
levels of organisms, resulting in a diverse upon the minerals flowing from particular
community. vent, a cold seep community may rely on
Courtesy of US Geological Survey chemosynthesizing bacteria that consume
The Ocean Planet

methane or other hydrocarbons.
The Hadal Depths – Ocean

Trenches
The hadal zone makes up the deepest
ocean depths, found in the deep-ocean
trenches where the oceanic plates collide with
continental plates. Depths in this zone range
from about 5000 to 6000 metres/16,500 to
19,700 feet, although some spots are deeper
than 11,000 metres/36,000 feet.
We know little about the hadal zone
Hydrothermal vent communities are based on
ecosystems primarily because of the limits of
chemosynthesis rather than photosynthesis. Here, technology. The extreme pressure makes it
specialized bacteria act as the base of the food pyramid,
forming a diverse community.
expensive and difficult to make submersibles
or instruments capable of observing these
Similar to hydrothermal vents, cold seeps depths. Only a few submersibles have been
are areas where hydrocarbons and sulfide- built that can descend safely into the hadal
rich fluids seep from the underlying rock zone, and only a single manned trip has
in the ocean floor. These are called “cold” been made to the deepest known spot in the
seeps because they’re cool compared to ocean.
hydrothermal vents. However, they are Therefore, what scientists know about
heated by geothermal energy from inside the life in the hadal zone is limited to fleeting
earth. glimpses. Most of these are from ROVs
Cold seeps are places where mineral- (Remote Operated Vehicles) and brief visits
laden seawater flows from the ocean bottom, by submersibles. These brief observations
but they’re not hot like hydrothermal vents. have found organisms even in the Mariana
Like the hydrothermal vents, cold seeps Trench (the deepest known place on earth),
support chemosynthetic-based ecosystems. but the character and extent of the hadal
The chemosythesizers include the same ecosystems remain largely unknown.

Freshwater Ecosystems sink and flood. Some freshwater bodies form
While they account for only a tiny portion through nongeological activity, like when we
of earth’s aquatic environment, freshwater intentionally dam rivers and streams for water
ecosystems are vitally important, and perhaps storage, power and irrigation. Quarries and
most immediately important to terrestrial strip mines fill with water and even beavers
ecosystems. There is no better example dam up streams to make shallow but often
of freshwater ecosystem diversity than the extensive ponds.
Amazon River. Many scientists believe the Temperature gradients in lakes and ponds
Amazon to be the most diverse region, influence the distribution of life just as in the
containing almost as many fish species as ocean, but on a smaller scale. The littoral
found on all coral reefs worldwide and five zone is the area near the lake margin where
times more species than found on Caribbean light penetrates to the bottom and rooted
reefs. plants grow. Beyond this is the open water or
Limnology, the study of freshwater limnetic zone, which is inhabited by plankton
ecosystems, is broadly divided into two areas: and fish. Below the depth of effective light Temperature gradients in
lakes and ponds influence the
lentic – standing water habitats such as lakes penetration is the region termed the profundal distribution of life just as in the
and ponds, and lotic – running water habitats ocean, but on a smaller scale.
such as rivers and streams. Some wetlands,

tidal flats or estuaries that contain much soil
moisture, are also freshwater ecosystems.
Lentic Ecosystems
Lakes and ponds are essentially inland
depressions containing fresh water. They vary
from small ponds of less than one hectare/2.4
acres to large inland seas covering thousands
of square kilometres/ miles. They may be as
shallow as one metre/ three feet or more than
2000 metres/6000 feet.
Lakes and ponds form through glacial
erosion and deposition, rock
and debris accumulation
blocking streams, or by earth
movement that causes land to

Kristin Valette
The Ocean Planet

Lentic ecosystems are those that
consist of standing water habitats,
such as lakes and ponds.
zone, or the aphotic zone to use the marine matter. Anaerobic (no oxygen) bacteria
term. Here the diversity of life varies with dominate the bottom beneath the profundal
temperature and oxygen supply. water, whereas the littoral zone’s bottom is
As in the ocean, the benthic zone may rich in aerobic decomposing organisms.
not appear to have much life to the untrained The food chain of many lake ecosystems
eye, but the bottom harbors intense biological depends on freshwater phytoplankton,
activity created by decomposition of organic although some lakes also strongly

Temperature Overturn in Fresh Water
Many lakes and ponds cycle through seasonal water lighter. This near-freezing, lighter water
temperature stratification. The process begins remains on the surface and as the temperature
in summer with the sun warming the water’s continues to drop, it freezes.
surface. As the water warms, it becomes less Interestingly, the water immediately beneath
dense and, therefore, lighter. This enables it to the ice may be warmed by solar radiation.
float on the colder, denser water beneath, which Because the water is below 4ºC/39ºF, warming
is the cause of the thermocline. actually increases its density. This heavier water
As air temperature falls in autumn, the now drops to the bottom where it mixes with
surface water loses heat to the atmosphere water warmed by heat conducted from bottom
through convection, conduction and mud. As a result, a slight inverse stratification
evaporation. This causes the temperature of may develop, in which the water becomes
the surface water to drop and sink. Over time, warmer with depth.
the temperature becomes uniform from the top As ice melts in spring, the surface water
to the bottom of the lake. The water can now again reaches 4ºC/39ºF and begins to sink.
easily circulate, carrying oxygen and nutrients This mixing, aided by the wind circulating
throughout the lake. This seasonal mixing is water, is an important process because it
called overturn. frees bottom nutrients and mixes them with the
Due to water’s unique physical properties oxygen-rich surface waters – a result similar to
(see Chapter Four), ice formation has some upwelling in the ocean. This creates an ideal
significant and unexpected effects on thermal growing condition for plankton. As the season
stratification. As water cools it becomes denser, progresses, the summer stratification develops
but as the temperature reaches 4ºC/39ºF the again.
density begins to decrease, making colder
depend on detritus (fine remains of plant marine ecosystems, many freshwater

or animal tissue). Most lakes are subject ecosystems are biologically rich. The earth’s
to eutrophication due to the addition of oldest and deepest lake is a good example.
nutrients from sewage and industrial wastes. Lake Baikal in Siberia is thought to be 25
Eutrophication has produced significant million years old and 1620 metres/ 5315 feet
detrimental biological changes in many deep. It contains more than 20 percent of the
freshwater ecosystems. Because of their world’s unfrozen fresh water. More than 1500
small size relative to the oceans, lakes and species live in Lake Baikal or the nearby area.
ponds typically show eutrophication Perhaps the most surprising resident of the
effects more rapidly and more lake is the Baikal seal, one of the few species
severely. of seals living in fresh water.
While less diverse than

Lotic Ecosystems the system upstream may accumulate in
Freshwater systems that flow – rivers and downstream inhabitants.
streams – are called lotic ecosystems. These
ecosystems exhibit a wide variety of physical Freshwater Wetlands
The Ocean Planet

and ecological characteristics. Naturally, the Freshwater wetlands are closely associated
conditions near the source of a river differ with lakes and streams. They’re not
from its mouth. There is also a gradient ecosystems you’re likely to be diving in,
across a river due to temperature and depth but they’re important to other freshwater
changes, channel width, current velocity and ecosystems much as mangroves and
bottom topography. estuaries are important to adjacent marine
Changes in these physical conditions are ecosystems.
reflected in the living organisms that inhabit The primary difference between wetlands
the ecosystem. Because lotic ecosystems are and other freshwater ecosystems is that the
subject to constant movement, they require a water is at, near or above ground level and
constant supply of nutrients from land-based occupied by vegetation. Wetlands dominated
sources to thrive. by grasses are marshes. Those dominated by
Many rivers begin as small streams in woody vegetation are swamps.
shady forested regions. These streams Wetlands primarily consisting of
strongly depend on detritus that is processed accumulated peat (undecomposed or slightly
by a number of invertebrates – shredders, decomposed material) are mires. Mires fed
collectors or grazers. These organisms, along by water moving through the mineral soil and
with algae, slow the downstream movement dominated by sedges are fens.
of nutrients. As these streams grow and are Wetlands dominated by sphagnum moss
exposed to sunlight, their dependence shifts and dependent on precipitation for moisture
from detritus to producing their own food and nutrients are bogs. Bog have blocked
from algae and rooted aquatic plants. As drainage and make nutrients relatively
the river grows larger still, it shifts back to a inaccessible to the ecosystem. The nutrients
dependence on detritus and dissolved organic accumulate as peat, and you generally find
matter. low productivity in bogs. Although marsh
Generally, downstream systems depend ecosystems also have restricted drainage,
on the inefficiencies of nutrient processing they don’t block the flow of nutrients. Rather,
upstream. What lives downstream survives marsh grasses and other organisms draw
on what’s left over from upstream. However, nutrients from the soil and make them readily
this also means that pollutants that enter available to the ecosystem.

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Chapter 2

The Ocean Planet

The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving

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The Ocean Planet

The Water Cycle

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Physical Characteristics of and the ecological balance.

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South-polar view of the world’s oceans

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An equatorial view of the

Topographical Features of caused much of the ocean’s water to freeze,

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

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A comparison of the major ocean basins.

110-190 metres/350-600 feet, beginning the

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

temperatures and moisture, with ongoing

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The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

Organism Lifestyles ZOOPLANKTON

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

Uneven Solar Heating and the Seasons

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The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

you open them in the ocean? This is because

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The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

Phosphorus and Silicone

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The Ocean Planet

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the human eye to see by.

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The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

Fault coasts. Scientists attribute the formation of fault

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The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving The Ocean Planet

The Ocean Planet