The coastal upwelling areas in the eastern parts of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean are among the biologically most productive marine areas worldwide. This productivity fuels life in the ocean, drives its chemical cycles, and lowers atmospheric carbon dioxide. Nutrient uptake and export interact with circulation to yield distinct ocean regimes. The highest production in the sea occurs in west-wind zones, near the equator, certain shelf seas, along the coast, and off Antarctica.
The neritic zone has the highest density of productivity, density of life, and nutrient levels, with an estimated 90 percent of the world’s fish and shellfish harvest coming from this region. The epipelagic zone, on the other hand, is the most productive of open ocean zones. Higher chlorophyll concentrations and productivity are observed on the equator, along the coasts (especially eastern margins), and in the high latitude ocean.
All primary productivity occurs in the photic zone, which supports about 90 percent of all marine life. The central Pacific Ocean receives a large amount of light throughout the year and sustains a high level of primary productivity due to an oceanographic environment. Ocean productivity is highest in regions with favorable nutrient availability, sunlight, and oceanographic conditions, such as coastal zones.
Coastal zones are highly productive ecosystems due to proximity to land and nutrients, interception of sinking matter, and propensity for coastal upwelling. Overall, the neritic and epipelagic zones play crucial roles in the ocean’s productivity and overall health.
📹 Productivity in the Open Oceans
Which aquatic region has the highest productivity?
Coral reefs represent the most productive aquatic ecosystems. The justification for upscaling from a geostatistical scale to an aquifer scale, such as that of deep saline aquifers, is based on the consideration of various scales, including the pore scale, the REV scale, the core/laboratory scale, the pilot scale, and the geostatistical scale.
What ocean region has the most primary productivity?
Ocean surface primary production is around 75-150 g C/m 2 /yr globally, with highly productive areas like the California coast, Southern Ocean, and coast of Peru. The central ocean produces less than 50 g C/m 2 /year. Regional and seasonal changes in primary production are influenced by light availability and nutrient availability from water mixing above the thermocline. In tropical regions, sunlight is abundant throughout the year, leading to nutrient-limited productivity. The surface water is warm and stratified, preventing nutrient-rich bottom water from reaching the surface. This results in clear water, similar to central ocean water.
At the poles, uniformly cold water at all depths allows mixing to occur year-round, distributing nutrients throughout the water column. However, polar regions may experience months with little or no light during winter, causing seasonal productivity variation. In winter, mixing occurs and nutrients are abundant, but no light occurs, leading to no productivity. By late spring, sunlight returns, and a spring/summer bloom of phytoplankton occurs. By late summer, nutrients have been depleted, and zooplankton graze on the phytoplankton, causing the bloom to decline.
In autumn, light levels decline, preventing further production throughout winter. However, during winter, mixing distributes nutrients throughout the water, ready for the sun to return and stimulate a bloom in the following summer.
Which ocean zone is richest in life?
The epipelagic zone, also known as the euphoric, sunlight, or photic zone, is the most abundant open ocean zone, where light penetrates the ocean and allows photosynthetic processes. It extends 200m or 650 feet below the surface. However, the depth of the ocean is limited, and studying different lifeforms becomes more challenging. For more information on ocean zones and life, visit the Smithsonian’s webpages.
Which ocean has the highest productivity?
The Pacific region experiences a higher rate of deep-water oxygen consumption than the Atlantic, requiring an average per unit area new primary production of about 1. 8 times greater. This is due to the higher rate of oxygen consumption from 14C and oxygen distributions. The study also mentions the use of cookies on the site, and the copyright for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies belongs to Elsevier B. V.
What ocean zone is the most productive?
The epipelagic or photic zone, which extends from the sea surface to a depth of 200 m (656 ft), is the most productive zone of the ocean due to its abundance of sunlight.
Which zone has the highest productivity?
The neritic zone, the most productive ocean region, supports an abundance of living organisms, accounting for 90% of the world’s fish and shellfish harvest. ChatGPT can be a useful tool in writing a PhD thesis by providing assistance, generating ideas, and organizing information. However, it should not replace in-depth research, critical thinking, or the expertise of your thesis advisor or committee. ChatGPT can help generate ideas for research topics, potential methodologies, or specific areas to explore, while also conducting a preliminary literature review.
It can suggest relevant keywords or research questions, and suggest papers, authors, or areas of research to explore. It is essential to independently verify and assess the sources recommended by ChatGPT.
Where is ocean productivity lowest?
The overall pattern of ocean productivity varies with latitude, with low productivity in the tropics and subtropics due to nutrient limitation caused by strong, year-round thermocline and pycnocline. Large gyre systems in the North and South Atlantic also have low productivity. Abiotic factors like solar radiation and nutrients, and biotic factors like zooplankton predation can affect ocean primary productivity.
Productivity varies with the season, locally and globally, and is a primary determinant of all biological productivity up the food web and trophic pyramid. Satellite images, such as the Nimbus 7 satellite and the Coastal Zone Scanner, are used to explore these variations.
Which region has the highest productivity?
The capital region in 21 out of 36 countries exhibits the highest regional labor productivity, primarily in regions with a substantial service sector and access to natural resources. Examples of such regions include Antofagasta in Chile, Campeche in Mexico, and Nunavut in Canada.
What are the 4 zones of productivity?
The four zone management framework is a tool used by successful companies to prioritize investments and tailor their approach. It involves segmenting and categorizing investments based on their performance metrics. This approach helps companies move from traditional, hierarchical, vertically structured operating models to a cross-functional, cross-business, horizontally structured model that values organizational agility.
The shift to cross-industry, cross-category, cross-channel, and cross-brand customer value and business relevancy is changing how companies make money, and companies must align their decision-making with customer preferences to maximize customer outcomes and improve organizational agility.
Which region of the sea has the maximum productivity?
The continental shelf is defined as the seabed extending from the shore to the edge of the continental slope. It is surrounded by shallow shelf seas and gulfs, which contribute to its status as a highly productive ocean region.
What areas of the ocean have high productivity and low productivity?
Primary productivity in oceanic waters varies geographically and seasonally, with coastal waters being more productive due to the high abundance of nutrients deposited in runoff from land and the shallower bottom along the continental shelf. The central ocean generally has very low primary production, as these areas are far removed from terrestrial sources of nutrients and the great depth prevents deep nutrients from returning to the surface. Global averages for ocean surface primary production are about 75-150 g C/m 2 /yr.
Regional and seasonal changes in primary production are due to the availability of light and the amount of nutrients provided by water mixing above the thermocline. In tropical regions, sunlight is plentiful throughout the year, making light a limiting factor. Surface water is always warm and there is a pronounced thermocline, leading to highly stratified water that prevents nutrient-rich bottom water from reaching the surface. As a result, productivity in tropical water is always nutrient-limited and low throughout the year. The water is very clear, as is the case with water in the central ocean.
📹 Aquatic Biomes | Biology
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