The biome of the open and coastal ocean, covering roughly seventy percent of the Earth's surface and, by volume, the largest habitable space on the planet. It is not one uniform environment but a stack of zones defined by light and pressure, from the sunlit surface layer where photosynthetic plankton form the base of nearly every marine food web, down through the twilight and midnight zones to the deep sea floor, plus coastal shallows such as coral reefs, among them the Great Barrier Reef, that concentrate a disproportionate share of marine biodiversity. Large-bodied filter feeders such as the blue whale and wide-ranging predators alike depend on the productivity of this biome's surface waters.
Facts
Disputed
Annual Precipitation (mm)990mm is the source's global LAND+OCEAN average annual precipitation figure; the source does not isolate an ocean-only figure. True oceanic precipitation is understood to run higher than this global blend (ocean evaporation exceeds ocean precipitation, balanced by land) and varies enormously by latitude, from near zero over the subtropical gyres to well over 3000mm under the tropical convergence zone. No single settled ocean-specific figure was found on an accessible source. Climate
Typical Low Temperature (C)Polar surface seawater freezes near minus 2 degrees Celsius because of its salt content; this is the coldest liquid seawater the marine biome sustains at its surface. Typical High Temperature (C) Connections
Demonstrates
Source Marine Protected Area in Antarctica's Ross Sea (NOAA Fisheries)
Source National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Source National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Home To
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Source National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Source World Wildlife Fund
Source What Is the Deep Ocean? (NOAA Ocean Exploration)
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Source World Wildlife Fund
Source National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Source World Wildlife Fund
Source National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Source World Wildlife Fund
FWS describes the habitat as the seasonally and permanently ice covered marine waters of the Arctic and Subarctic.
Source Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Source Marine Protected Area in Antarctica's Ross Sea (NOAA Fisheries)
Source Sargasso Sea (Wikipedia)
Source Sea Otter (Monterey Bay Aquarium)
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
An intertidal, saline system at the boundary of marine and freshwater river influence; classified here under the Marine biome for its dominant tidal and saline character.
Source UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Sources
1. How Does the Temperature of Ocean Water Vary? (NOAA Ocean Exploration)
NOAA Ocean ExplorationOcean Fact - Temperature VariationQuote, Ocean Fact - Temperature Variation
These variations in solar energy mean that the ocean surface can vary in temperature from a warm 30C (86F) in the tropics to a very cold -2C (28F) near the poles.
2. Precipitation (Wikipedia)
WikipediaPrecipitation - lead sectionQuote, Precipitation - lead section
the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres (39 in), but over land it is only 715 millimetres (28.1 in)
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.britannica.com/science/marine-ecosystem, second paragraph on ocean extent
Marine waters cover two-thirds of the surface of the Earth. In some places the ocean is deeper than Mount Everest is high; for example, the Mariana Trench and the Tonga Trench in the western part of the Pacific Ocean reach depths in excess of 10,000 metres (32,800 feet). Within this ocean habitat live a wide variety of organisms that have evolved in response to various features of their environs.
- Home To: Blue Whale
- Home To: Elkhorn Coral
- Home To: Vaquita
View the Source National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationnoaa.gov/education/resource-collections/marine-life, opening paragraph
Our ocean, coasts, and estuaries are home to diverse living things. These organisms take many forms, from the tiniest single-celled plankton to the largest animal on Earth, the blue whale.
- Home To: Great Barrier Reef
- Home To: Kelp Forests
- Home To: Coral Reef Systems
- Demonstrates: Tropical Cyclone
- Demonstrates: Waterspout
View the Source UNESCO World Heritage Centre
World Wildlife Fund
World Wildlife Fund- Home To: Coral Triangle
- Home To: Mesoamerican Reef
- Home To: Galapagos
- Home To: Gulf of California
View the Source Marine Protected Area in Antarctica's Ross Sea (NOAA Fisheries)
Sea Otter (Monterey Bay Aquarium)
What Is the Deep Ocean? (NOAA Ocean Exploration)
Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Sargasso Sea (Wikipedia)
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