Chapter-5.pptx - New Sumi

Types of Marine Habitat
• Mainly two types:

a)benthonic
b)pelagic
Benthonic Habitat
• The ocean floor contains organisms

that lives attached to or near the
bottom
• The zone extends horizontally along
the ocean floor from the coastal
ocean throw the open ocean
Types of Benthonic Habitat
• On the basis of depth it is divided into :

a. Littoral zone : Inter tidal zone
b. Sublittoral zone: 0 to 200m(Continental shelf)
c. Bathyal zone : 200 to 2000m( Shelf wall)
d. Abyssal zone : 2000 to 6000m( Abyssal plain)
e. Hadal zone : > 6000m ( Deep sea trenches)
Divisions of benthonic habitat
Pelagic Habitat
• Pelagic is the open ocean, from the areas

above the continental self out to the
deepest part of the ocean
• Pelagic zone divided into two:
a) neritic zone : water over the continental shelf
b) oceanic zone : water beyond the shelf break
Oceanic zone
• It is divided into five:
1. Epipelagic : 0 to 200m
2. Mesopelagic : 200 to 1000m
3. Bathylpalagic : 1000 to 4000m
4. Abyssalpelagic : 4000 to 6000m
5. Hadalpelagic : >6000m
Main features of the topography
• Continental self
• Continental slope
• Submarine Continental Margin
• Continental rise
• Abyssal plane
• Deep-sea trench Deep ocean basin
• Midocean ridge
Fig: Ocean surface topography
Continental shelf
• Nearly flat plains at the top of the sedimentary wedge
• Average width : 60 kilometers
• Self bottom slope gently seaward at an angle of about
0.5 degrees
• Continental self end on their ocean side at the self
break where sea bottom steepens appreciably
• Self break occur at a water depth 130 meters ( on
average)
• Bottom slope of the self break is about 1 to 4 degrees
Continental slope
• Seaward of the self break is a steeper continental
slope
• Average angle is about 4 degrees
• Enormous pile of mud and sand eroded from
continent lies underneath the continental slope
• V-shaped submarine canyons are found on the
slope
Continental rise
• The broad underwater plain of sediment at
the base of continental slope
• Larger continental rise extend about 500
kilometers from the base of the continental
slope
Abyssal plain
• Flattest area found anywhere in the earth
• Having a regional slope of <0.5 degrees less
than 1 meter per km
• Land derived sediment are deposited in this
area ( mostly debris)
• Consist irregular volcanic topography
Seamounts
• Steep walled, pointy, extinct or active volcano
• Rise more than 1000 meters above the
adjoining ocean floor but not reach or extend
above the oceans water surface
• May occur as isolated peaks or be clustered
into groups
• Flat topped seamounts called Guyots
Deep-sea trenches
• Relatively steep-sided, long and narrow
• Trenches are the deepest region on the earth
• 3 to 5 km deeper than the surrounding ocean
floor
• They are associated with active volcanoes and
strong earthquakes
Midoceanic ridges
• Midoceanic ridge occur along divergent plate
boundaries, where new ocean floor is created
as the earth’s tectonic plates spread apart
Continued…………………..
• As the plates separate, some molten rock rises
to the seafloor, producing enormous volcanic
eruptions of basalt and building the longest
chain of the volcanoes
Rocky shore
• Rocky shore:
• A rocky shore is an intertidal area that consists
of solid rocks
• It is often a biologically rich environment and
can include many different habitat types like
steep rocky cliffs, platforms, rock pools and
boulder fields
Sandy beach
• Sandy beaches are soft shores that are formed
by deposition of particles that have been carried by
water currents from other areas
• The transported material is in part derived from the
erosion of shores, but the major part is derived from
the land and transported by rivers to the sea
• Sandy shores or beaches are loose deposits of sand,
gravel or shells that cover the shoreline in many places
• They make up two-thirds of the world’s ice-free
coastlines
Sandy beach
• Sandy beach formed by two types of

materials:
• quartz (=silica) sands of terrestrial origin and
• carbonate sands of marine origin. The
carbonate sand is weathered from mollusk
shells and skeletons of other animals
Fig: Sandy beach
Muddy shore
• Muddy shores are formed along the seashores where

there is no or little wave action.
• These intertidal areas are formed by the deposition
of silt from the water flowing into the sea
• Muddy shores are quite common along the
sheltered beaches, estuaries and mangroves
• The mud is also known for its high organic carbon
content and hence serves as a very good food source
for many of the mud dwelling organisms
Fig: muddy shore
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Types of Marine Habitat

• Mainly two types:

• The ocean floor contains organisms

• On the basis of depth it is divided into :

• Pelagic is the open ocean, from the areas

• Sandy beach formed by two types of

• Muddy shores are formed along the seashores where

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