Ecosystem Of The Ocean Floor

The national park service has ten parks with coral reefs.

Ecosystem of the ocean floor. This sciencestruck article highlights facts structure and lifeforms belonging to this ecosystem. Offering vibrant colors and the greatest biodiversity of any marine ecosystem on the planet. Here are 15 crazy facts about the ocean floor. New species are discovered in the ocean each year by marine biologists and other ocean scientists.

There are many different parts that make up an ecosystem and each part plays a role in maintaining balance within the system. Nearly half of the world s sea floors are over 3 000 meters 9 800 ft deep. But then hydrothermal vents were discovered. Kelp forests occur worldwide throughout temperate and polar coastal oceans.

Coral reefs alone are home to over 25 of all marine life despite occupying less than 1 of the ocean floor. Only about 1 of the sea floor has been explored by humans. But coral reefs only occupy less than one tenth of one percent of the ocean floor. We know very little about the deep ocean floor and the life it holds due to the depth and the difficulties this creates for scientists.

In fact humans know more about the surface of the moon than the ocean floor. An ecosystem is defined as a community and the interactions of living and nonliving things in an area marine ecosystems have distinct organisms and characteristics that result from the unique combination of physical factors that create them. The deepest reaches of the ocean were once thought to be devoid of life since no light penetrates beyond 1 000 meters 3 300 feet. In most of the world the ocean floor is very deep averaging 3 790 meters 12 430 ft in depth.

Contrary to popular belief most of the sea floor known as the open ocean is not really a habitat for animals just a place they pass by on the way to somewhere else. Some coral reefs are so large they are even visible from outer space. Different areas of the ocean can be classified as different types of marine ecosystems. Like all ecosystems marine ecosystems are finely balanced and highly complex.

Marine ecosystem includes saltmarsh mangroves mudflats lagoons coral reefs barrier islands estuaries the ocean floor and the deep sea etc. In 2007 kelp forests were also discovered in tropical waters near ecuador. Deep ocean hydrothermal vent ecosystems were discovered in 1977. Coral reefs are amazing habitats.

The ocean floor covers 70 of the earth s surface. In fact it has been said that we know more about the surface of the moon than about the deeper ocean trenches. Over the last century they have been the focus of extensive research particularly. Like land the ocean floor is not completely flat but features abyssal plains valleys deep trenches massive mountains and other undulations.