Blue Planet

Introduction to Marine Biology (MOD002737)

dannielle.green@anglia.ac.uk
 Lecture overview
• Zones by depth, temperature, light, salinity and density

• Deep and surface ocean currents

• Abiotic factors affecting the distribution of organisms

• Land-sea interactions
 Water world
• 71% of Earth’s surface is
covered by saline water.

• ~97% of all water is in the

oceans.

• ~66% of Earth’s surface is

deeper than 200m.

• Average depth ~3,688m.

• Maximum depth ~10,994m

(Mariana Trench).
 Oceans
The world ocean is
divided into 5 major
oceans:
•Pacific (50.1%)

•Atlantic (23.3%)

•Indian (19.8%)

•Southern (5.4%)

•Arctic (1.4%)
Light, temperature & depth zones
 Pelagic depth zones

Epipelagic
Mesopelagic

Bathypelagic

Abyssalpelagic

Hadalpelagic
 Ocean heating - insolation
Arctic circle 66.5° N

Tropic of Cancer 23.5° N

Equator

Tropic of Capricorn 23.5° S

Antarctic circle 66.5° S

• Amount of heat absorbed depends on latitude

• Insolation is uneven due to the shape of the Earth
 Isotherms

• Due to “insolation” ocean SST correlates with latitude

• Ocean isotherms trend EW except where deflected by
currents
 Thermocline
Thermocline: rapid change
in temperature with depth
determined by

•Latitude

•Seasons

•Tides and currents

 Halocline
Halocline (type of chemocline):
rapid change in salinity with
depth determined by

•Latitude

•Evaporation

•Precipitation
 Halocline

Salinity changes with latitude due to variations in precipitation

and evaporation

•Evaporation > Precipitation = increased salinity

•Evaporation < Precipitation = decreased salinity
 Density (kg m-3) zones

Surface (2%): mixed layer

Pycnocline (18%): rapid change in ρ with depth

Deep (80%): cold stable

 Density (kg m-3) zones

Stratification more pronounced between 40° N and 40° S

and often absent from higher latitudes.
 Thermohaline circulation

• Heat distributed around the globe via currents - conveyor belt

action.
• Transfers heat from the tropics to the polar regions.
 Thermohaline circulation
• Cold water in polar zones sinks relatively rapidly over a small
area, whilst warm water in temperate and tropical zones rises
more gradually across a much larger area.
• This then slowly returns poleward near the surface to repeat
the cycle.
• The continual diffuse upwelling of deep water maintains the
existence of the permanent thermocline found everywhere at
low and mid-latitudes.
• This slow upward movement is estimated to be about 1 cm per
day over most of the ocean. If this rise were to stop, downward
movement of heat would cause the thermocline to descend
and would reduce its steepness.
• Is it slowing??
 Upwelling

• Warm nutrient poor surface water replaced by cold nutrient

rich deep water.
• Fuels phytoplankton production.
• Areas with coastal upwelling very productive.
• About half of the worlds fish catch comes from upwelling
zones.
 Surface currents
• Top 400 m of ocean.

• Driven by wind and the

rotation of Earth - Coriolis
effect.

• Coriolis - diverts to the right

in the N. hemisphere, or to
the left in the S. hemisphere.
 Gyres

N. N.
Atlantic
Pacific

S. Indian
S. Atlantic
Pacific Ocean

Surface currents link up to form gyres.

Flow is clockwise in the N. hemisphere, counter-clockwise in the
S. hemisphere.
 Surface currents
East Australian Current
•Wind-driven (Coriolis effect).

•Largest ocean current close to

the shores of Australia.

•Transports tropical marine

fauna to habitats in sub-tropical
regions along the south east
Australian coast.

•Its flow can reach 90 cm s-1

 Surface currents
Gulf Stream influenced by
prevailing winds and Coriolis
effect.

•Conveys heat from South to

North in the Atlantic.

•Flows from the Gulf of Mexico

to the Atlantic.

•Its flow can reach 250 cm s-1

•Reason for our “mild” winters.

 Surface currents
Gulf Stream
•Important for dispersal of
many vertebrate and
invertebrate species
 Bottom line
• Pelagic = water column from surface to just above the
bottom

• Benthic = seafloor from salt marsh to the deepest trench

• There are many more benthic than pelagic species

• ~98% of all marine animal species live on or near the

seafloor
 Types of organisms
Heterotrophs - require food in the form of organic compounds
made by other organisms

Autotrophs - use inorganic substances (nutrients) to make their

own food and are either:

•Photosynthetic: use solar energy to power photosynthesis and

live in the photic zone

or

•Chemosynthetic: use chemical reactions to power

chemosynthesis commonly live near deep sea vents or anoxic
sediments
 Controls on distribution
• Depth (pressure)

• Light

• Temperature

• Salinity

• Food availability or nutrients

• Space to live

• Pollution and other stressors

 Light zones

• Light triggers benthic-pelagic migration.

• Adaptations to low/no light.

• Light affects activity levels of pelagic fish and other organisms.

 Effect of temperature
• Metabolism strongly affected:
biological activity increases with
temperature (incl. growth rates,
respiration, movement).

• Concentration of dissolved gases

(CO2 for photosynthesis, O2 for
animal respiration) decreases with
increasing temperature.

• Cold water stores more CO2…

Another concern of climate
change.
 Effect of temperature
• Stenothermal: tolerates only
a narrow range of
temperatures (deep and/or
oceanic organisms)
Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)

• Eurythermal: tolerates a
wider range of temperatures
(shallow and/or sessile
organisms)

Goby (Pomatoschistus microps)

 Effect of salinity
• Changes in salinity are related
to tidal movement, evaporation,
precipitation, river runoff and
groundwater discharge.

• Salinity is an important control

on the distribution of organisms
because of osmotic pressure.
Water molecules move from
high concentration of water
(=low salinity) to low
concentration of water (=high
salinity).
 Effect of salinity
• Stenohaline organisms can
tolerate only a narrow range of
salinity (deep and/or mobile
organisms).

Horse mussel (Modiolis modiolis)

• Euryhaline organisms can

tolerate a wider range of
salinities (surface and/or
sessile organisms).

Blue mussel (Mytilus edulis)

 Land-sea linkage
“From sea to land, from land to
sea; And heave round earth, a
living chain of interwoven
agency” Goethe's Faust
 Land-sea linkage
• The chains of interactions that weave together the parts
of ecosystems are critical to their functioning. Such
interaction chains include:

• Abiotic linkages (e.g. physical transport of nutrients

across ecosystem boundaries).
• Biotic linkages (e.g. Trophic interactions; consumption of
prey by predators).

These linkages can assemble both vertically (e.g. from top

to bottom of food webs) and horizontally (e.g. across the
boundaries of multiple food webs and habitats).
Land-sea linkage
• One of the most obvious land-sea
linkages is that of run-off or
submarine groundwater discharge.
Leading to increased nitrogen and
pollutants in coastal ecosystems.
 Sea-land linkage
• Pacific salmon (genus Onchorhynchus) spawn in freshwater
systems, spend the first 2 years there and then migrate to sea
for 1-7 years gaining 90% of their final biomass.
 Sea-land linkage
• Salmon represent a
“net positive” gain of
nutrients for
freshwater and
terrestrial habitats.
• The carcasses and
eggs of migratory
Pacific salmon
(Oncorhynchus spp.)
provide a high-quality
food source that
benefit other species
of salmon rearing in
fresh water.
 Sea-land linkage

• Bears move 58-90% of salmon biomass to land as carcasses,

or as nutrients in their faeces/urine.
• Birds and insects carry the rest.
• Natural and agricultural land gains huge “subsidies” of marine-
derived fertilizer.
 Sea-land linkage

• In some places up to 90% of salmon is fished by humans,

meaning a huge decline in biomass for a wide range of marine,
freshwater and terrestrial species.
 Land-sea linkage
• How can palm plantations on land affect manta rays
(Manta birostris) in the sea?
 Land-sea linkage
• Using nitrogen isotopes,
animal tracking and field
surveys McCauley et al.
(2012) found that seabirds
roosting on native trees
fertilize soils, which increase
coastal nutrients and the
abundance of plankton, thus
attracting manta rays to native
forest coastlines.

• Taxa in native forest zones

are causally linked to one
another via dependency upon
seabird derived nutrients.
 Land-sea linkage

Long interaction chain linking forests to manta rays (from

McCauley et al. 2012 in Scientific Reports).
 Conservation challenge
• “Boundaries” whether physical or political, present a
challenge for conservation.

• Very complex issue for scientists to convey to policy-makers

and hard to protect species with complex life histories and
requirements.
Take a break!