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85 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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how many total species live in the biosphere? how many of these are in the marine environment?
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1,750,000 species; 250,000 marine species
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what percent of the species in the biosphere are marine?
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14%
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what percent of marine species are benthic? pelagic?
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98%, 2%
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where do most marine organisms live?
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sunlit surface layers
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what does the individual success of a species depend on?
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ability to find food, avoid predators, and cope with physical barriers
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briefly describe the 3 domains of life
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1. Archaea- simple microscopic bacteria-like creatures
2. Bacteria- simple life forms w/ cells that lack a nucleus 3. Eukarya- complex organisms |
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what are the 5 kingdoms of life?
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Monera, Fungi, Protista, Animalia, Plantae
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briefly describe monerans
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-single cells
-no nucleus -cyanobacteria |
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briefly describe protists
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-single to multicelled
-nucleus -algae and protozoa |
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briefly describe fungi
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-exist thruout marine environment
-much common in intertidal zone -form lichen w/ cyanobacteria -function as decomposers -mold and lichen |
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briefly describe plants
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-photosynthesize
-only a few species inhabit coastal environments -vital roles in ecosystem |
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breifly describe kingdom animalia
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-multicellular
-simple and complex |
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what are 3 categories that marine organisms can be classified in, according to habitat and mobility? describe them
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1. plankton: floating w/ little locomotive power
2. nekton: swimmers 3. benthos: botom dwellers |
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where is most of the ocean's biomass contained? where are most oceanic species found?
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in plankton; seafloor (benthos)
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give examples of plankton
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phytoplankton, zooplankton, bacterioplankton
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how small are bacterioplankton?
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one-half of a micron
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what is the difference between holoplankton and meroplankton?
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holoplankton spend their entire lives as plankton while meroplankton spend adult lives as benthos and/or nekton
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even though nekton can swim, why is their distribution limited?
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water pressure limits their vertical range
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how do salmon and eel differ?
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salmon spawn in freshwater rivers; eels grow to maturity in freshwaters and descend rivers to breed in oceans
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differentiate between epifauna, infauna, and nektobenthos
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epifauna- live on the surface of the seafloor
infauna- live inside the seafloor, buried nektobenthos- live on the floor, but swim or crawl above the ocean floor |
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moving across the bottom from shore into deeper waters, how does the distribution of benthic organisms vary?
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the # of species/ m^2 remains constant
the biomass decreases |
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why are benthic organisms widely distributed?
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physical conditions vary little on the Deep C floor, even over great distances
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in what year was the 1st hydrothermal vent biocommunity discovered? where?
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1977 in the Galapagos Rift off S America
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what is the primary limiting factor for distribution of benthic life?
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availability of food
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why are there so few marine species (only 14% of known)?
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1. temperatures are stable and low below sunlit surface waters, so rate of chemical reaction is slowed, reducing the tendency for variation
2. uniform conditions don't force organisms to adapt |
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why do most marine species inhabit the benthic environment?
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the ocean floor contains numerous benthic environments that create different habitats to which organisms have adapted
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water constitutes ____% of the mass of protoplasm
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80
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what is the percent water content (by mass) of a jellyfish? lobster? human?
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95%, 79%, 65%, repsectively
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how do plankton stay afloat?
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they depend on the buoyancy and firctional resistance to sinking
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how do warm water and cold water organisms differ?
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1. warm water has lower viscocity, so warm-water organisms need more appendages to stay afloat
2. warm water organisms grow faster, have shorter life expectancy, reproduce earlier and more frequently 3. more species in warm water, but more biomass in cold water |
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why is organism size important?
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small size means large Surface Area to Volume ratio, so organisms can more efficiently manage traffic across cell membranes
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what are some ways organisms stay afloat?
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1. some phytoplankton, especially diatoms, have appendages to increase surface area
2. some produce a tiny droplet of oil to decrease density 3. small size 4. take advantage of water's viscocity |
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how do nekton deal with water's viscocity, which impedes movement instead of helping them stay afloat?
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they have streamlined bodies that offer the least resistance to fluid flow and allow marine organisms to move easily through water. streamlined shape is exemplified in the shape of a free swimming fish
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what is the range of temperatures on land? ocean? why so?
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-34 in open ocean, 42 in coastal ocean, 146 on land
-water has high spec heat -water can cool through evaporation -good mixing mechanisms such as tides, waves -radiation is spread through upper tens of meters in the ocean, as opposed to upper few cm on land |
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compare stenothermal, eurythermal, stenohaline, and euryhaline organisms
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stenothermal- withstand small temp. changes
eurythermal- withstand large temp. changes stenohaline- withstand small salinity changes euryhaline- withstand large salinity changes |
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what are some organisms that extract silica from water? calcium carbonate?
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silica- diatoms, radiolarians, silicoflagellates
CaCO3- coccolithophores, foraminifers, mollusks, corals, some algae |
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what is diffusion? what is osmosis?
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diffusion- random movement of particles from an area of hi conc to lo conc
osmosis- movement of water from a hypotonic to hypertonic solution |
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what is osmotic pressure?
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pressure that must be applied to the hypertonic solution to prevent water molecules from passing into it
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during osmosis, what three things occur simultaneously across a cell membrane?
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1. water molecules move to hypertonic soln.
2. nutrient molecules diffuse 3. waste molecules diffuse |
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what adaptations do marine fish have? what adaptations do freshwater fish have?
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Marine: drink large quantities of water, secrete salt thru special cells, small volume of highly concentrated urine
Freshwater- don't drink, cells absorb salt, large volume of dilute urine |
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what is special about the body fluids of marine invertebrates such as worms, mussels, and octopi?
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they're nearly isotonic
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why do your fingers get all wrinkly when you stay in the water for a long time?
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water flows into your skin cells, which hydrates the skin and causes it to look wrinkly
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how does the amount of dissolved gases vary w/ temp and press?
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amount of gas that can be dissolved increases w/ decreasing temp and increasing press
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how do gills help w/ gas exchange?
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they exchagne O2 and CO2 directly with seawater
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what is the least concentration of dissolved O2 in seawater that fish need to survive for long periods?
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4.0 ppm and even more for activity and rapid growth
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can marine animals w/ gills take in O2 from the atmosphere?
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no..their adaptations allow them to use only the oxygen dissolved in water
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where are gills located in fishes? in higher aquatic invertebrates? mollusks? aquatic insects? amphibians? higher vertebrates and humans?
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fishes- rear of mouth and contain capillaries
higher aquatic invertebrates- protrude from body surface mollusks- inside the mantle cavity aquatic insects- projections from the walls of air tubes amphibians- only present in larval stage higher vertebrates including humans- occur as rudimentary nonfunctional gill slits, which disappear during embryonic development |
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what are some effects of water's high transparency?
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-jellyfish are transparent, making it difficult for predators to spot them
-many predators have developed keen eyesight |
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what is countershading?
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an organism is dark colored on top and light colored on the bottom => some fish cannot be easily seen against the dark background of deep water and they blend into the sunlight when viewed from below
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why are many species brightly colored if it makes them easily seen by predators?
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-disruptive coloring makes them blend into an equally variable, contrasting background
-bright colors may help fish advertise their identity, attract mates, or display weaponry such as spines or poison |
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what's the difference btwn cryptic coloration and aposematic coloration?
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cryptic makes an organism blend into the background. aposematic is a warning for predators to stay away
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what is 1 atm equal to in pounds per square inch? at what rate does pressure increase w/ depth?
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14.7 and 1 atm / 10 m
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how do deep water marine organisms withstand pressures that can easily kill humans?
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they lack large compressible air pockets inside their bodies; they don't have lungs, ear canals, or other passageways as we do, so they don't feel the high pressure pushing in on their bodies; in their water filled bodies, pressure is pushing outward and inward at equal magnitudes
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if animals that have large air pockets inside are affected by the extreme pressures at depth, how are sperm whales able to dive so deeply?
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they use small amounts of oxygen efficiently and have a collapsable rib cage, which forces air out and collapses the lungs, thereby closing air cavities inside their bodies
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are squids meroplankton, holoplankton, picoplankton, microplankton, or googoolaplankton?
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meroplankton- egg sacks are benthic, larvae are planktonic, and adults are nektonic
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what are 2 main dividions of the marine environment?
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pelagic environment and benthic environment
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all of the following could be considered nekton, except: a jellyfish, a squid, a dolphin, a tuna, a surfer paddling out to the waves
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jellyfish
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what is luciferin?
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a compound that emits photons of light in the presence of oxygen - imporant in bioluminescence
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what is the oxygen minimum layer (OML) ?
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The OML is a zone of low dissolved oxygen that exists from 700 to 1000 meters depth, ending at the base of the mesopelagic and disphotic zones
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True or False? Countershading is a term used to describe an organism that is dark colored on bottom and light colored on top, thus able to avoid being seen by predators
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False. countershading describes organisms that are LIGHT colored on bottom and DARK colored on top
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True or False? Diffusion is a process of passing particles or molecules from areas of low particle concentration to high particle concentration.
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False
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True or False? The deep scattering layer (DSL) is found close to the surface at noon every day
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False
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True or False? The increasing pressure with depth in the oceans has a significant impact on most marine organisms.
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False
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order the following benthic environments, from shallowest do deepest: Sublittoral, Hadal, Bathyl, Littoral, Abyssal
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Littoral, Sublittoral, Bathyal, Abyssal, Hadal
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what are 2 divisions of the pelagic environment?
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neritic and oceanic provinces
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order these zones of the oceanic province from the shallowest to deepest: mesopelagic, bathypelagic, epipelagic, abyssopelagic
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1. epipelagic (surface to 200 m)
2. mesopelagic (200-1000 m) 3. bathypelagic (1-4 km) 4. abyssopelagic (4km - below) |
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what is the single most important factor that determines the availability of life in the oceanic province?
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availability of light
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order these zones from shallowest to deepest: aphotic, disphotic, euphotic
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1. euphotic (surface - 100 m)
2. disphotic (euphotic - 1 km) 3. aphotic (disphotic - sea floor) |
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why does the oxygen level decrease rapidly in the epipelagic and upper mesopelagic zones?
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no photosynthetic algae live below 150 m and bacterial oxidation decomposes dead organic tissue falling from the upper layers
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in what zone does the oxygen minimum layer occur? what is this depth where oxygen levels are minimum?
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mesopelagic zone; 700-1000 m
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what is the approximate oxygen concentration at the surface, in ppm? of nutrients?
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oxygen- 5.8 ppm
nutrients- 0.5 ppm |
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what is the approximate oxygen concentration at 1 km depth? of nutrients?
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oxygen- 1.3 ppm
nutrients- 7.9 ppm |
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at what depth does a nutrient maximum occur?
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around 1 km
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what special adaptations do many organisms in the mesopelagic zone have?
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they're bioluminescent and have unusually large eyes that are capable of detecting light levels 100 times lower than humans can sense
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what are photophores?
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glandular light producing cells that contain luminous bacteria surrounded by dark pigments. some photophores contain lenses to amplify the light radiation
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when is bioluminescence produced?
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when molecules of luciferin are excited and emit photons of light in the presence of oxygen. only a 1% loss of energy is required to produce this luminescence
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how do organisms survive in the bathypelagic and abyssopelagc zones in the absence of light?
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they feed on each other
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why does oxygen concentration increase w/ depth below the oxygen minimum layer?
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because oxygen is replenished by deep currents originating in polar regions as cold surface water rich in oxygen
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what are the 2 divisions of the benthic environment?
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1. subneritic province: 0-200 m depth
2. suboceanic province: everything below 200 m |
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what are the 3 main divisions of the subneritic province?
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1. supralittoral zone: spray zone- water only during extreme high tides or tsunami
2. littoral zone: btwn high and low tide lines 3. sublittoral zone: shallow subtidal zone, from the low tide shoreline out to a depth of 200 m, which is further divided into the inner and ouer sublittoral zones |
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what is the difference btwn the inner and outer sublittoral zones?
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inner- extends to a depth at which marine algae no longer grow attached to the ocean bottom
outer- all photosynthesis is carried out by floating microscopic algae |
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what are the 3 divisions of the suboceanic province?
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1. bathyl zone: depth of 200-4000
2. abyssal zone: depth of 4000 to 6000 m 3. hadal zone- below 6000 m |
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in what division of the suboceanic province is most of the benthic environment concentrated?
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abyssal zone
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what suboceanic zone does this description best describe: animal communities that are found in these deep environments have been isolated from each other, often resulting in unique adaptations
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hadal zone
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what is the depth of the deep scattering layer at day? at night?
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900 m during day and 100-200 m during night because organisms come up to feed when predators can't see them
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