factors that allow organisms to survive in the abyssal plains

These zones are relevant to freshwater lakes as well. To give some perspective on the depth of this trench, the ocean is, on average, 4267 m. The deepest part of the ocean, the Challenger Deep (in the Mariana Trench, located in the western Pacific Ocean), is about 11,000 m (about 6.8 mi) deep.

The majority of the ocean is aphotic and lacks sufficient light for photosynthesis. At depths greater than 200 m, light cannot penetrate thus, this is referred to as the aphotic zone. Within the pelagic realm is the photic zone, which is the portion of the ocean that light can penetrate (approximately 200 m or 650 ft). The benthic zone extends along the ocean bottom from the shoreline to the deepest parts of the ocean floor. All of the ocean’s open water is referred to as the pelagic zone. The ocean is categorized by several areas or zones (Figure 1). The ocean is divided into different zones based on water depth and distance from the shoreline. Marine systems are also influenced by large-scale physical water movements, such as currents these are less important in most freshwater lakes. The thermal properties of water (rates of heating and cooling) are significant to the function of marine systems and have major impacts on global climate and weather patterns. In freshwater systems, stratification due to differences in density is perhaps the most critical abiotic factor and is related to the energy aspects of light. The importance of light in aquatic biomes is central to the communities of organisms found in both freshwater and marine ecosystems. While there are some abiotic and biotic factors in a terrestrial ecosystem that might obscure light (like fog, dust, or insect swarms), usually these are not permanent features of the environment.

As one descends into a deep body of water, there will eventually be a depth which the sunlight cannot reach. Even if the water in a pond or other body of water is perfectly clear (there are no suspended particles), water still absorbs light. The aquatic medium-water- has different physical and chemical properties than air. Like terrestrial biomes, aquatic biomes are influenced by a series of abiotic factors. Abiotic Factors Influencing Aquatic Biomes

Factors that allow organisms to survive in the abyssal plains