The photic zone, euphotic zone (Greek for "well lit": εὖ "well" + φῶς "light"), or sunlight zone is the depth of the water in a lake or ocean that is exposed to such intensity of sunlight which designates compensation point, i.e. the intensity of light at which the rate of carbon dioxide uptake, or equivalently, the rate of oxygen production, is equal to the rate of carbon dioxide production, equivalently to the rate of oxygen consumption, reducing thus the net carbon dioxide assimilation to zero.
It extends from the surface down to a depth where light intensity falls to one percent of that at the surface, called the euphotic depth. Accordingly, its thickness depends on the extent of light attenuation in the water column. Typical euphotic depths vary from only a few centimetres in highly turbideutrophic lakes, to around 200 metres in the open ocean. It also varies with seasonal changes in turbidity.
Since the photic zone is where almost all of the photosynthesis occurs, the depth of the photic zone is generally proportional to the level of primary production that occurs in that area of the ocean. About 90% of all marine life lives in the photic zone. A small amount of primary production is generated deep in the abyssal zone around the hydrothermal vents which exist along some mid-oceanic ridges.
2024 ... “The recovery of life would have been fueled by an increase in ferrous iron in the photic zone and enhanced nutrient (especially phosphorous) availability, both indicated by geochemical data,” the authors explain in their research ... .
Listen duration 27′ .37″ Add to playlistPlaylist ... Listen ... When you picture where creatures live on Earth, what do you see? ... When Kat says deep-sea, she means the part of the ocean below the sunlight (“photic”) zone, where photosynthesis can take place.
Apple Podcasts ...The project will look at how marine organisms in the photic zone (the area from the ocean's surface to about 200 meters below) impact the ocean's absorption and circulation of carbon dioxide through currents, the news release stated ... .
Dr ... Dr ... Dr ... With terrestrial organisms exposed to high-intensity ultraviolet radiation on land and oxygen-producers in the shallow photic zone of the sea negatively impacted, this would have filtered through the water column as oxygen supply declined.
photo: Creative Commons / Leland Francisco from Dededo, Guam https://www.flickr.com/people/22779530@N02
... during the expedition with data from these buoys and sediment traps for investigating the link of Saharan dust deposition to shifts in phytoplankton communities living in the underling photic zone.
Leptoseris spp. dominate the coral community in deep, low-light zones throughout the Indo-Pacific region ... More information. Sam Kahng et al, Calcification rates in the lower photic zone and their ecological implications, Coral Reefs (2023). DOI ... Citation.
A pond can be defined as a body of water in which light penetrates all the way to the bottom, allowing all of the water to be part of the photic zone ... These areas are regions of darkness that can lie beneath a photic zone, called the aphotic zone.
We might think of an ocean as teeming with life; that is true so far as it goes, which is only about the upper 200 meters or so--what scientists call the photic zone ... survive only in the photic zone.
Dr ...Russell says ... Russell says ... Dr ... "Along with these bloom events in the open ocean, cyclone activity results in both coastal upwelling and runoff from the land that also deliver nutrients into the photic zone, generating blooms ... Horvat says ... DOI ... ....
A phytoplankton bloom near New Zealand, in 2009 ... “Along with these bloom events in the open ocean, cyclone activity results in both coastal upwelling and runoff from the land that also deliver nutrients into the photic zone, generating blooms ... .
The study also revealed that rather than sinking into the deep ocean, a large portion of this CaCO3 dissolves close to the surface where carbon is more readily exchanged with the atmosphere and where sunlight penetrates the surface (photic zone) ... Dr.
A foundation for future managementThe area of the ocean that receives sunlight, known as the photic zone or epipelagic, extends from the surface to a depth of about 200 metres and may be hazardous for elasmobranchs.
The photic zone or epipelagic—the ocean region receiving sunlight—stretches from the surface to about 200 meters and can potentially be a dangerous area for elasmobranchs.
Independent Record
21 Jun 2024
Independent Record
21 Jun 2024
