- Abyssal Zone - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The abyssal zone, or the abyss, is the seafloor and water column from 3,000 to 6,500 meters (9,842 to 21,325 feet) depth, where sunlight doesn’t penetrate
- Ocean Zones - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The ocean water column is made up of five zones: the sunlight (epipelagic), twilight (mesopelagic), midnight (bathypelagic), abyssal (abyssopelagic) and hadal zones (trenches)
- A rare black seadevil anglerfish sees the light
The deep ocean is a world of extremes—intense pressure, frigid temperatures, and perpetual darkness It is also home to astonishing life forms, uniquely adapted to survive in conditions that would be unfathomable for most creatures Among these is the black seadevil anglerfish, Melanocetus johnsonii, a species so elusive it once seemed more folklore than fact Recently, however, a remarkable
- Abyssal Zone – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is the world's leading non-profit oceanographic research organization Our mission is to explore and understand the ocean and to educate scientists, students, decision-makers, and the public
- Hadal Zone - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
A map of hadal regions in the Pacific shows that most of the ocean’s deep seafloor does not lie in the long subducting trenches that border tectonic plates, but mid-basin, where very little exploration has occurred Illustration by WHOI Creative, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
- The Discovery of Hydrothermal Vents - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Hydrothermal vents form in volcanic areas where subseafloor chambers of rising magma create undersea mountain ranges known as mid-ocean ridges Cold seawater seeps into cracks in the seafloor and can be heated up to a raging 750° F (400° C) by interacting with magma-heated subsurface rocks The heat stimulates chemical reactions that pull in minerals and chemicals from the rocks, before the
- Twilight Zone - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The ocean twilight zone is a layer of water that stretches around the globe It lies 200 to 1,000 meters below the ocean surface, just beyond the reach of sunlight
- Marine Snow and Fecal Pellets - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The abyss was simply too dark and cold to sustain life The discovery of many animals living in the abyssal environment by Sir Charles Wyville Thompson during HMS Challenger’s 1872–1876 circumnavigation stunned the late 19th century scientific community far more than we can now imagine
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