Each Layer of Ocean and their names. The Abyssal Zone is the second to last zone on the map.
INTRO
The Vessel sunk deeper, slowly breaching the Twilight Zone and then lower into the Benthic Zone. 6,000 meters below the surface of the water, pitch darkness swallowed machine and tiny crew whole. With the receding sun, the darkness promised them never to feel its warm rays on their cheeks again. These brave men drifted into what is known as the Abyss. It is virtually unknown to man. Only 1/1000000 has actually been explored. In fact, more people have traveled to space than visit this deep into the oceans depths. The word 'Abyss' actually is derived from the Greek work meaning 'Bottomless'. It does have a bottom, in fact. However, it is so vast and deep, it covers close to half the entire world! Not only does it cover half the world, the Abyssal Zone is 2,500 times the total volume of the Earth's rain forests! The men on this deep sea expedition would soon find that the Abyss would be a magical yet scary place that would rival that of the night sky.
TEMPERATURE/ PRESSURE
No sunlight shines through the liquid substance known as the ocean. The Abyss is locked in a perpetual night, non of its inhabitants has ever seen the bight bulb in the sky that gives so much energy. Without the sun's grace, one could only imagine how cold a place would get. The Abyss is clocked between 2-4 Celsius (37 Fahrenheit). Almost cold enough to snow! And its like this year round folks, this deep into the sea and you don't know day from night, summer from winter. If the sun doesn't touch it, neither does weather or tides. Not only is it freezing cold, it also has enough pressure to crush anything flat as a pancake! Pressure increases 1 atmosphere (atm) ever 10 meters down. Now this zone is found 2,000 to 6,000 meters under water, you do the math. At the top of the Abyss, water pressure can be as much as 100 times more than that of the waters surface. Luckily for the species that live at the bottom of the sea, their bodies have adapted to these crazy seemingly inhabitable conditions. SPECIES/ ADAPTATIONS
While in the Abyssal Zone, the vessel and its crew made many discoveries in the darkness. The whole plain was lit up like the night sky, filled with blinking blue lights! These glowing cyans are one of many adaptations taken on by the species that live in the deep ocean. Bio-luminescence is what it’s called, and it’s a chemical reaction that happens in the fish’s bodies to help them attract mates, or to help them lure in prey. About 90% of organisms have the ability to produce bio-luminescence One fish that uses his bio-luminescence to his advantage is the Angler fish. Named after the protrusion off his head, the angler fish has a long cord that sticks out and has a glowing bulb at the end. When other fish see this, they are attracted to it, and when they get close enough, 'BAM', the angler fish has just obtained dinner
Example of the Biolumenescence possesed by the Creatures and how dark it is
.
Angler Fish of the Abyss.
Some other adaptations aren’t as pretty as glowing anglers. One, much to the adventurer’s horror, is giant, sharp nasty teeth that sometimes can’t even fit in the owner’s mouth! This is due to the scarcity of food. Fish down in the abyss can’t afford to lose a meal when the opportunity comes into play, so they developed large expandable jaws and crazy pointy teeth to ensure the catch. Along with the gaping jaws, fish have gained the ability to expand their stomachs, enabling them to swallow prey much larger then they are! It may be days before they get something to eat again. Why don’t they just swim to where the prey is, you ask? That’s elementary my dear Watson. Because of the ‘no sunlight’ thing, temperatures are extremely cold, and fish can’t expend warmth and energy all willy-nilly looking around for food that may not even be there. Also, to make it more impossible, fish have camouflage. Many of them are red in color, which in the blackness, doesn’t reflect due to the lack of sunlight. So, they find it better just to sit around in one place and wait for the food come to them. It’s like looking for a paranoid hot dog in a pitch black, freezing cold warehouse. You’d have a better chance of not freezing to death and tiring yourself out just by sitting in one place and let the hot dog come to you. The only good thing is, is that your body is made up mainly of water, so you don’t get crushed under the immense pressure and even though its freezing and not snowing frozen water, it is however, snowing tiny bits of dead matter from the upper zones. This is aptly called ‘Marine snow’. And that’s really the only thing that works in your favor down in the abyss. Yay for not getting crushed by the place you call home and to have nice showers of dead debris from the heavens everyday. Consider yourself lucky.
Gulper Eel. My what big jaws you have.
Viper Fish. Nicely shows off his nasty Fangs
Many of the species are mind boggling, and look like they stepped right out of a science-fiction double feature. Gulper Eel, Angler Fish, Basket Starfish, Tripod Fish, Viper Fish. I don’t know about you, but just by those names, I really wouldn’t want to go face to face against those creatures. However, all of those are fine and dandy as far as creepy go, but one of he most magnificent creations that was discovered down there are called Tube Worms. Tube Worms are animals, just as you and I are, yet they have no mouth, no stomach, no intestine, and no way to eliminate waste. How do they live? With sunlight not available directly as a form of energy, the Tube Worms rely on bacteria in their habitat to oxidize hydrogen sulfide attained from the hydrothermal vents they live on, using dissolved oxygen in the water for respiration. This reaction is called Chemosynthesis. Like the plants on land go through a similar reaction that turns sunlight into energy called Photosynthesis, the tube worms created a new way to survive without the suns rays.
Beautiful picture of Hydrothermal Vents and Tube Worms living in harmony
For so deep down in the ocean where no sunlight has ever broken through, life is pretty abundant, and interesting. FOOD WEB
With no sunlight, it’s hard to find many primary producers in the Abyssal Plain. The main primary producer that everyone can agree on is the Hydrothermal Vents or also known as Black Smokers. These babies are like mini volcanoes. They spew out minerals, rock and ash from the earth at scorching heats. From then, bacteria feeds off of the substances spewed, then micro-organisms feed off of the bacteria and some marine snow, the micro-organisms are eaten by small fish and crustaceans, from there are eaten by bigger fish and then eventually are eaten by the scarier fist with the nasty overbites. So the vicious circle goes:
Hydrothermal Vents (spew minerals) > Bacteria/ Tube Worms/ Marine Snow > Micro-Organisms (Phytoplankton/ Zooplankton) > Crustaceans/ Fish > Bigger Fish > Mean and Nasty Fish.
Nice Basic Food web for the Marine Biomes
QUESTIONS
Q) Is your ecosystem endangered?
A) Not in the slightest. Darling it’s better down where its wetter, take it from me. My ecosystem 6,000 leagues under the sea is hardly affected by what goes on on dry land.
Q) Describe at least one other ecosystem found somewhere else in the world that is similar to your ecosystem.
A) The ecosystem created like this may be the Rain forest. Exactly because they’re polar opposites. Photosynthesis is abundant; animals move around and use bright colors to attract prey and mates. There is tons of oxygen, heat and sunlight. And in a sense, all ecosystems have had to go through major adaptations, but I believe the Rain forest is like the abyss just because they’re are so unalike. If that answer doesn’t satisfy you, then the most like the Abyss would be the benthic zone. It’s located just above the Abyss and has many of the same creatures and food webs in it.
Q) Describe two potential (or active) sources that can damage or destroy your ecosystem (make it unbalanced); be specific.
A) There is one thing every biome has a problem with, and that’s humans. We humans mindlessly destroy so much of our planet, it’s not even funny! Even though the Abyss isn’t affected much by the upper areas, it still feels a diluted amount of what’s happening on the surface. Take the oil spill for example. Its fresh on everyone’s minds and has created close to mass destruction for the sea. The Abyssal zone may not get all gunked up by the black muck, but all of the fish that die from its pollution and fall as marine snow, can have a nice chain reaction against those who eat it.
Q) An outline or plan to conserve/preserve your ecosystem from change/damage.
A) A possible plan to prevent this from happening is to use a different source of fuel, as opposed to oil begotten from the sea. It may not happen soon, but its something that will help a lot of other ecosystems in the process.
The Vessel sunk deeper, slowly breaching the Twilight Zone and then lower into the Benthic Zone. 6,000 meters below the surface of the water, pitch darkness swallowed machine and tiny crew whole. With the receding sun, the darkness promised them never to feel its warm rays on their cheeks again. These brave men drifted into what is known as the Abyss. It is virtually unknown to man. Only 1/1000000 has actually been explored. In fact, more people have traveled to space than visit this deep into the oceans depths. The word 'Abyss' actually is derived from the Greek work meaning 'Bottomless'. It does have a bottom, in fact. However, it is so vast and deep, it covers close to half the entire world! Not only does it cover half the world, the Abyssal Zone is 2,500 times the total volume of the Earth's rain forests! The men on this deep sea expedition would soon find that the Abyss would be a magical yet scary place that would rival that of the night sky.
TEMPERATURE/ PRESSURE
No sunlight shines through the liquid substance known as the ocean. The Abyss is locked in a perpetual night, non of its inhabitants has ever seen the bight bulb in the sky that gives so much energy. Without the sun's grace, one could only imagine how cold a place would get. The Abyss is clocked between 2-4 Celsius (37 Fahrenheit). Almost cold enough to snow! And its like this year round folks, this deep into the sea and you don't know day from night, summer from winter. If the sun doesn't touch it, neither does weather or tides. Not only is it freezing cold, it also has enough pressure to crush anything flat as a pancake! Pressure increases 1 atmosphere (atm) ever 10 meters down. Now this zone is found 2,000 to 6,000 meters under water, you do the math. At the top of the Abyss, water pressure can be as much as 100 times more than that of the waters surface. Luckily for the species that live at the bottom of the sea, their bodies have adapted to these crazy seemingly inhabitable conditions.
SPECIES/ ADAPTATIONS
While in the Abyssal Zone, the vessel and its crew made many discoveries in the darkness. The whole plain was lit up like the night sky, filled with blinking blue lights! These glowing cyans are one of many adaptations taken on by the species that live in the deep ocean. Bio-luminescence is what it’s called, and it’s a chemical reaction that happens in the fish’s bodies to help them attract mates, or to help them lure in prey. About 90% of organisms have the ability to produce bio-luminescence One fish that uses his bio-luminescence to his advantage is the Angler fish. Named after the protrusion off his head, the angler fish has a long cord that sticks out and has a glowing bulb at the end. When other fish see this, they are attracted to it, and when they get close enough, 'BAM', the angler fish has just obtained dinner
Some other adaptations aren’t as pretty as glowing anglers. One, much to the adventurer’s horror, is giant, sharp nasty teeth that sometimes can’t even fit in the owner’s mouth! This is due to the scarcity of food. Fish down in the abyss can’t afford to lose a meal when the opportunity comes into play, so they developed large expandable jaws and crazy pointy teeth to ensure the catch.
Along with the gaping jaws, fish have gained the ability to expand their stomachs, enabling them to swallow prey much larger then they are! It may be days before they get something to eat again. Why don’t they just swim to where the prey is, you ask? That’s elementary my dear Watson. Because of the ‘no sunlight’ thing, temperatures are extremely cold, and fish can’t expend warmth and energy all willy-nilly looking around for food that may not even be there. Also, to make it more impossible, fish have camouflage. Many of them are red in color, which in the blackness, doesn’t reflect due to the lack of sunlight. So, they find it better just to sit around in one place and wait for the food come to them. It’s like looking for a paranoid hot dog in a pitch black, freezing cold warehouse. You’d have a better chance of not freezing to death and tiring yourself out just by sitting in one place and let the hot dog come to you. The only good thing is, is that your body is made up mainly of water, so you don’t get crushed under the immense pressure and even though its freezing and not snowing frozen water, it is however, snowing tiny bits of dead matter from the upper zones. This is aptly called ‘Marine snow’. And that’s really the only thing that works in your favor down in the abyss. Yay for not getting crushed by the place you call home and to have nice showers of dead debris from the heavens everyday. Consider yourself lucky.
Many of the species are mind boggling, and look like they stepped right out of a science-fiction double feature. Gulper Eel, Angler Fish, Basket Starfish, Tripod Fish, Viper Fish. I don’t know about you, but just by those names, I really wouldn’t want to go face to face against those creatures. However, all of those are fine and dandy as far as creepy go, but one of he most magnificent creations that was discovered down there are called Tube Worms. Tube Worms are animals, just as you and I are, yet they have no mouth, no stomach, no intestine, and no way to eliminate waste. How do they live? With sunlight not available directly as a form of energy, the Tube Worms rely on bacteria in their habitat to oxidize hydrogen sulfide attained from the hydrothermal vents they live on, using dissolved oxygen in the water for respiration. This reaction is called Chemosynthesis. Like the plants on land go through a similar reaction that turns sunlight into energy called Photosynthesis, the tube worms created a new way to survive without the suns rays.
For so deep down in the ocean where no sunlight has ever broken through, life is pretty abundant, and interesting.
FOOD WEB
With no sunlight, it’s hard to find many primary producers in the Abyssal Plain. The main primary producer that everyone can agree on is the Hydrothermal Vents or also known as Black Smokers. These babies are like mini volcanoes. They spew out minerals, rock and ash from the earth at scorching heats. From then, bacteria feeds off of the substances spewed, then micro-organisms feed off of the bacteria and some marine snow, the micro-organisms are eaten by small fish and crustaceans, from there are eaten by bigger fish and then eventually are eaten by the scarier fist with the nasty overbites.
So the vicious circle goes:
Hydrothermal Vents (spew minerals) > Bacteria/ Tube Worms/ Marine Snow > Micro-Organisms (Phytoplankton/ Zooplankton) > Crustaceans/ Fish > Bigger Fish > Mean and Nasty Fish.
QUESTIONS
- Q) Is your ecosystem endangered?
A) Not in the slightest. Darling it’s better down where its wetter, take it from me. My ecosystem 6,000 leagues under the sea is hardly affected by what goes on on dry land.- Q) Describe at least one other ecosystem found somewhere else in the world that is similar to your ecosystem.
A) The ecosystem created like this may be the Rain forest. Exactly because they’re polar opposites. Photosynthesis is abundant; animals move around and use bright colors to attract prey and mates. There is tons of oxygen, heat and sunlight. And in a sense, all ecosystems have had to go through major adaptations, but I believe the Rain forest is like the abyss just because they’re are so unalike. If that answer doesn’t satisfy you, then the most like the Abyss would be the benthic zone. It’s located just above the Abyss and has many of the same creatures and food webs in it.- Q) Describe two potential (or active) sources that can damage or destroy your ecosystem (make it unbalanced); be specific.
A) There is one thing every biome has a problem with, and that’s humans. We humans mindlessly destroy so much of our planet, it’s not even funny! Even though the Abyss isn’t affected much by the upper areas, it still feels a diluted amount of what’s happening on the surface. Take the oil spill for example. Its fresh on everyone’s minds and has created close to mass destruction for the sea. The Abyssal zone may not get all gunked up by the black muck, but all of the fish that die from its pollution and fall as marine snow, can have a nice chain reaction against those who eat it.- Q) An outline or plan to conserve/preserve your ecosystem from change/damage.
A) A possible plan to prevent this from happening is to use a different source of fuel, as opposed to oil begotten from the sea. It may not happen soon, but its something that will help a lot of other ecosystems in the process.MULTIMEDIA PEICE
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/blueplanet/alien/flash/main_game.shtml>
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Putatunda, Rita. "Marine Biome - Marine Biology." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. Buzzle, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2010. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/marine-biome-marine-biology.html>.
Schultz, Terrie. " About The Abyssal Zone: The Ocean Deep." Find Health, Education, Science & Technology Articles, Reviews, How-To and Tech Tips At Bright Hub - Apply To Be A Writer Today!. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2010. <http://www.brighthub.com/environment/science-environmental/articles/60013.aspx>.
"The Deep Sea at MarineBio.org - Ocean biology, Marine life, Sea creatures, Marine conservation...." MarineBio.org - Marine Biology, Ocean Life Conservation, Sea creatures, Biodiversity, Oceans research.... N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2010. <http://marinebio.org/oceans/deep/>.