Dec 19, 2024 · The abyssal zone, or the abyss, is the seafloor and water column from 3,000 to 6,500 meters (9,842 to 21,325 feet) depth, where sunlight doesn’t penetrate.

Dec 19, 2024 · The ocean water column is made up of five zones: the sunlight (epipelagic), twilight (mesopelagic), midnight (bathypelagic), abyssal (abyssopelagic) and hadal zones …

Abyssal Zone Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is the world's leading non-profit oceanographic research organization. Our mission is to explore and understand the ocean and …

Dec 19, 2024 · The midnight zone, or bathypelagic, extends to about 4,000 meters (about 13,100 feet), which reaches the ocean floor in many places is in perpetual darkness.

Dec 19, 2025 · Understanding how the ocean works is foundational to understanding life on this planet and to the discipline of oceanography. Get to know the big systems of the ocean: its …

Dec 19, 2024 · The hadal zone occurs only in trenches, which can extend to 11,000 meters deep (36,000 feet). Hadal regions combined across all oceans make up an area about the size of …

Dec 19, 2024 · The upper layer of the ocean is known as the sunlit, or euphotic, zone. Because water strongly absorbs light, sunlight penetrates only to depths of about 200 meters (656 feet).

Nov 6, 2025 · Phytoplankton are primary producers of the ocean—the organisms that form the base of the food chain. WHOI explores the microscopic, single-celled organisms.

Jul 29, 2022 · Jellyfish and other zooplankton are animals that live all or part of their life suspended and drifting in fresh or salt water, rarely come in contact with hard surfaces.

Dec 1, 1997 · Until about 130 years ago, scholars believed that no life could exist in the deep ocean. The abyss was simply too dark and cold to sustain life. The discovery of many animals …