Open Ocean Vocabulary

nutrient poor

• oligotrophic

• benthos

• productivity

• neuston

midnight zone, light does not penetrate to this depth

• mesopelagic zone

• halocline

• bathypelagic zone

• density

organisms that live right at the sea surface but remain underwater

• plankton

• pleuston

• neuston

• zooplankton

organisms that live right at the sea surface, with part of the body projecting into the air

• pleuston

• benthos

• productivity

• neuston

rate at which organic matter is created by producers in an ecosystem

• benthos

• productivity

• pycnocline

• photoplankton

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-6

the uppermost part of the oceanic zone, that received enough sunlight to allow photosynthesis

• hadopelagic zone

• thermocline

• nekton

• epipelagic zone

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-6

the zone where light can penetrate, yet without the intensity to support photosynthesis

• mesopelagic zone

• epipelagic zone

• bathypelagic zone

• abyssopelagic zone

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-6

the production of light by means of a chemical reaction in an organism

• productivity

• halocline

• bioluminescence

• thermocline

organs that produce light

• productivity

• photophore

• phytoplankton

• bioluminescence

the zone of water that occurs in trenches (deeper than 6000m)

• hadopelagic zone

• bathypelagic zone

• thermocline

• nekton