Deep-sea ecology

Deep-sea ecology studies organisms and ecological processes in ocean regions beyond the reach of sunlight, where food, energy, and habitat are shaped by darkness, pressure, and distance from shore.

Marine snow: A continuous shower of organic particles and organisms sinking through the ocean. It carries much of the surface ocean’s fixed carbon into deep-sea food webs.
Bathyal zone: The ocean depth zone extending roughly from 200 to 2,000 meters. Its slopes and plains form a major portion of deep-sea habitat.
Whale fall: The carcass of a whale that sinks to the seafloor and becomes a temporary ecosystem. A single carcass can sustain successive communities for years or decades.
Deep-sea mining: The extraction of minerals from the deep seafloor. Mining can disturb habitats and generate sediment plumes whose ecological effects remain uncertain.
Deep-sea biodiversity: The variety of life in deep-ocean habitats, from microbes to large animals. Many species and their distributions remain undocumented across immense areas.
Chemosynthesis: The production of organic matter using energy from chemical reactions rather than sunlight. It supports communities where reduced chemicals provide energy without photosynthesis.
Abyssal zone: The deep-ocean region, generally between 3,000 and 6,000 meters. Its vast seafloor is cold, dark, and sustained largely by sinking material.
Hydrothermal vent ecosystem: A biological community sustained by chemical energy at a hydrothermal vent. It demonstrates how dense ecosystems can thrive without sunlight-derived food.
Bottom trawling: A fishing method that drags weighted nets across the seafloor. It can damage deep-water corals and other long-lived benthic habitats.
Deep-sea exploration: The investigation of ocean regions at great depth using instruments and submersibles. New observations continually revise estimates of habitat extent and ecological diversity.

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