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marine ecosystem
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Also known as: ocean ecosystem, sea ecosystem
ocean zonation
- Key People:
- Timothy Parsons
- Related Topics:
- abyssal zone bathyal zone bottom water littoral zone halocline
marine ecosystem, complex of living organisms in the ocean environment. Marine waters cover two-thirds of the surface of the Earth. In some places the ocean is deeper than Mount Everest is high; for example, the Mariana Trench and the Tonga Trench in the western part of the Pacific Ocean reach depths in excess of 10,000 metres (32,800 feet). Within this ocean habitat live a wide variety of organisms that have evolved in response to various features of their environs. The Earth formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago. As it cooled, water in the atmosphere condensed and the Earth was pummeled ...(100 of 6754 words)