Our other world

By Alana Sacks, Gaelen Murray and Willa Hartl

Our Other World

By Alana Sacks, Gaelen Murray and Willa Hartl

-TABLE OF CONTENTSSUNLIGHT ZONE

Introduction to Sunlight zone and life pg. 1-2 Temperature pg. 3-4 Depth and introduction to Twilight zone pg. 5-6

TWILIGHT ZONE
Introduction to Twilight zone, marine snow and other names pg. 7-8 Life pg. 9-10 Temperature, depth and introduction to Midnight zone pg. 11-12

MIDNIGHT ZONE
Introduction to midnight zone and life pg. 13-14 temperature pg. 15-16 interesting facts and introduction to abyss pg. 16-17

Introduction to Abyss and other names pg. 18-19 Life and temperature pg. 20-21 Hydrothermal vents and introduction to Trenches pg. 21-22

ABYSS

Introduction to Trenches, life, and temperature pg. 23-24

TRENCHES

The Sunlight Zone

The Twilight Zone

The Midnight Zone

The Abyss

Trenches

The Sunlight Zone

Hi! Im a Mola mola, also called a sunsh. My name is Sunny because I like bathing on the top of the water in the sun. Mola molas range from 6 to 10 feet long and like to eat jellysh.

My friends and I are going to take you on a tour of the ve zones of the ocean! The rst is the sunlight zone, then the twilight zone, then the midnight zone, the Abyss and last, the Trenches.

I live in the sunlight zone (the prettiest and most wonderful place!). The sunlight zone is the smallest zone, but it has the most life. Some of the animals that live here are snails, sharks, dolphins, whales, sea turtles, jelly sh, (of course Mola molas!) and many others. Some of the plants here are seaweed and coral. Coral is formed by polyps skeletons. Many things live in or on coral and eat things off it. Sea anemones attach to coral and when a sh swims by, the anemones kill it with their poison tentacles. Thats why I never go near them!

The Sunlight Zone

The Sunlight zone is also called the Epipelagic zone.

The temperature of the sunlight zone ranges from 80F to 27F depending on where the ocean is.

In Antarctica, the water would be around 27F and in the Caribbean, the water would be around 80F

The Sunlight Zone

The sunlight zone goes from the surface down to about 200 meters. Then it becomes the twilight zone. The sunlight zone has the most oxygen in it because it is closest to air.

Now we have gone through the AMAZING sunlight zone! I cannot go down any further, so my great friend, Jaws will tell you about the next zone, the Twilight zone.

The Twilight Zone

Hi. Im Jaws. I will Bye! guide you through the Twilight zone. Im hungry. My species is dark green or grey and is 3-6 feet long.

The Twilight zone is also called the Mesopelagic (mezoh-puh-lajic) or Midwater zone. The Mesopelagic zone means, loosely translated, meso: middle and pelagic: relating to the open sea. The Midwater zone nickname is originated from meso. Of course, all the animals call it the Twilight zone because the other names just arent scary enough, especially for fear-inducing, fabulous animals such as me.

A scrumptious fact about the Twilight zone is that its partially dependent on marine snow, which comes from the above layers and occurs in all the zones. Marine snow is made of dead animals, plants and sand. Its called snow because its white and falls slowly. The need for marine snow increases in each zone as there are no plants in most zones. That means all animals below the Sunlight zone are carnivores or scavengers. The base of the food web is marine snow.

The Twilight Zone

Many animals here are bioluminescent (bio-loom-enes-ent), or produce their own light, like a firefly does on land. Also many creatures have long, pointy teeth...like my killer ones!

Jaws: Im now going to interview Ms. Luna Flash, a flashlight fish, also a tasty morsel whom I really want to eat. So, Ms. Flash, how have you adapted to life here? Ms.Flash: Well, Im bioluminescent, but I can turn my light on and off. Im so special! And how dare you want to eat me! Jaws: Um...cant think of a question...um Ms.Flash: This conversation is so boring... bye bye! Jaws: Grrrrrr...

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The Twilight Zone

The temperature in the Twilight zone varies greatly. This zone extends from 200 meters to 1,000 meters, and the depth is the main factor in temperature. The temperature has a range of 56 to 39. The pressure doesnt effect many creatures as theyre adapted to it. Also, there is very little oxygen. And... I really want to scare something!

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The Twilight zone is the transition from a light, warm zone (which is totally boring compared to this incredibly scary zone, right?) to the dark zone below it. This marks the end of the Twilight zone. Squish, whom I also want to eat, is your next welcoming (maybe) tour guide, to the Midnight zone.

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The Midnight Zone

Hi Jaws, Please dont eat me! Im a sea cucumber. My name is Squish. I live partially buried under the sand or on it. Im like a soft cucumber. No plants live here because there is no light and it isnt warm enough for them.

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Not very many animals live here but a few are Lantern fish, Giant Squid, Vampire Fish, and Sea Sponges. Most of the fish here are blind or have large eyes. Some even have huge mouths so they can grab marine snow or fish swimming past. Most fish here also have weak muscles because there is no need to swim fast. The reason is there arent many predators here. Some fish have slimy bodies like me.

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The midnight zone

The temperature in this zone is about 39 F. This may not seem very cold but in fact it is. Freezing is 32F. So it is almost freezing!

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Another name for the midnight zone is the bathypelagic zone. Its called the midnight zone because its midnight black down here.

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The midnight zone

The reason is because this Zone extends from 1,000 to 4,000 meters, so no sunlight reaches it. The Midnight zone has immense water pressure that increases with depth and has very, very little oxygen.

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This is the biggest zone. Of course, the fact that this zone is so big doesnt affect me as I mostly stay in one place. This is the longest Ive crawled ever!

This is the end of the incredible Midnight Zone. Hope you enjoyed the tour! This zone is the best, isnt it? Soon you will meet Clementine, your next host.
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Abyss

Hi, my name is Clementine. I am called Clementine because I am a yellowy-orange color. I am a Dumbo octopus and I live in the abyss. I am eight inches tall and I love to hover above the ocean oor.

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My zone has 3 names. The rst (and easiest to say) is the abyss. The second name for my layer is the abyssal zone. And if you want to be scientic you can call it the Abyssopelagic zone.

The name the abyss comes from the Greek word meaning no bottom because the Greek thought the ocean had no bottom. How funny is that!

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Abyss

The temperature in the abyss is usually freezing. The only exceptions are crazy places called hydrothermal vents. They shoot boiling hot water into the ocean above.

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There is almost no life here in the abyss, except for outside of the hydrothermal vents.

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Hydrothermal Vents are like fountains on the sea oor. They are found at an average depth of 7,000 feet. The Hydrothermal Vents are one of the only places in the Abyss to nd life. There is no oxygen and no light in here.

Abyss

Tube worms and huge clams are the dominant creatures in the vents in the Pacic Ocean. Tube worms get their food from the billions of bacteria inside them. Tube worms cant eat food because they have no mouth,no stomach, no intestines, and no way to poop. The Bacteria turns the chemicals in the water into food for the tube worms. Eyeless shrimp are

only found in vents in the Atlantic Ocean. Animals live on hydrothermal vents because of the heat from the vents and the chemicals they release.

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Hydrothermal vents are formed by the earths tectonic plates moving and making cracks in the ocean oor. The water gets heated by the magma below the earths crust . There are two different kinds of hydrothermal vents. The rst kind are called black smokers. They are the hottest kind of vent. The second kind are called white smokers. They shoot cooler water into the ocean above.

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The Trenches

There are these really scary black holes below me in some parts of the ocean, called trenches, that I am scared to go near. But one day I did. I went to one of the deepest ones, called the Challenger Deep. Let me tell you about it. You might think it was impossible to live down there because there is no light; It is really cold, and it is suffocating due to lack of oxygen. But you would be wrong. At the bottom of the Challenger Deep scientists found one-celled organisms, called foraminifera I wish I could see one! They are little one-celled planktons and they can live there.

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The trenches have three names. The rst you know: trenches. The second name is the hadal zone, and the third name is the hadalpelagic zone. Whatever you want to call this zone it is 19,700 to 35,797 feet deep. There can be up to 8 tons per square inch of water pressure on you when you are in the Marianas Trench, the deepest one. The temperature in only slightly above freezing.

My friends and I have now taken you through all the zones of the ocean! I hope you enjoyed our other world!

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GLOSSARY
Bioluminescent (Bioloomenesent) - Animals that make and give off light from their bodies. Bathypelagic zone (Bathiepuhlajic) - Scientific name for Midnight zone. Mesopelagic zone (Mezohpuhlajic) - Scientific name for Twilight zone. Abyssopelagic zone (Abissohpuhlajic) - Scientific name for Abyss. Hadalpelagic zone (Hadulpuhlajic) - Scientific name for Trenches. Epipelagic zone (Epuhpuhlajic) - Scientific name for Sunlight zone.

Bibliography
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