41 Abyssal Zone Facts About The Dark Deep Area of The Ocean

There is a lot about our oceans which we still don't know, the ocean floor and the deep-sea animals are only a fraction of the information hiding underneath the deep layers of our oceans.

The abyssal zone is those deep-sea regions that are under the depth of 2000 m (6,561 ft). Deep-sea life is still a secret and it's right to say that we don't have all the resources to uncover what lies under the deep ocean.

The word abyssal is derived from the Greek language, the word means bottomless. Deep oceans were earlier known to have no life, however, only recently did we hit the realization that the deep-sea animals thrive in those dark regions of the seafloor.

Many animals live in the abyssal zone, one of which is the tripod fish. The deep water and its deep trenches are home to several animals.

Although, as the meaning of the word abyssal goes, it means bottomless sea, it isn't exactly bottomless. Animals or fishes such as chemosynthetic bacteria and tubeworms live in such regions of the ocean.

Facts About The Abyssal Zone

Of all the things which are famous in the abyssal zone, its flora is one of the most interesting parts.

• In such a particular zone where there is no sunlight, flora cannot do photosynthesis.
• However, the plants at these depths are well equipped to battle this problem as well.
• They have special tiny microbes which take into use the process known as chemosynthesis.
• The process generally involves oxidizing hydrogen sulfide, which they get from the vents of the deep seafloor.
• To study the depths of the ocean in a systematic sense, these zones are divided into four zones.
• The sunlight zone, the twilight zone which is also known as the mesopelagic zone, the midnight zone, and the abyssal zone.
• When the abyssal zone ends, just underneath that lies the hadal zone, not many animals live in the hadal zone.
• Before the abyssal zone starts, we see the bathyal zone, a lot many animals live in this exact depth since not much pressure comes from the oceans covered in this zone.
• These are all deep-sea regions, any region deeper than 200 m (656 ft) depth is known to be a deep-sea region.
• The abyssopelagic zone is extremely reliant on the frigid polar regions.
• Since the only source of oxygen for this zone of the ocean is to get it through the dissolved oxygen in the polar areas.
• Hence, the abyssal water gets its dissolved oxygen from the polar water. Since many dead organisms and dead animals settle down in these depths of the ocean, otherwise known as the abyssal region, the salt consistency is relatively higher in this zone than in other zones.
• Another interesting fact about the abyssal zone is, since it lies in the deep sea, it has to withstand the perpetual darkness and also the extreme pressure from the turbulent seas.
• The pressure at the abyssal zone is very high and it can reach up to 10,000 psi.
• Hence, the animals which lived in these depths need to be well equipped with dealing with such water pressure.
• This leads researchers into believing that the animals or microorganism which live in such depths excel in managing this water pressure and also surviving through it.

Ecosystem In The Abyssal Zone

The abyssal zone is known as the cold and dark zone of the ocean.

• The deep-sea regions are still home to organisms and fishes, although the animals which live in this zone are very special than others.
• They produce their own light and the plants of this zone don't require photosynthesis to get their oxygen.
• Algae, anemones, and a variety of fishes such as anglerfish and tripod fish live in such dark seafloor or otherwise known as the abyssal plain.
• This region of the deep sea is especially given the name abyssal as it's believed to be bottomless since it's very deep, it starts at the depths of 4000 m (13,123 ft) and after this zone comes the hadal zone.
• Not many animals live in this zone, only a countable number of species are found to be living in this dark zone.
• Since plants of any kind need sunlight to produce oxygen, and the deep ocean has constant perpetual darkness, which leads us to believe the plants at such depths cannot perform photosynthesis.

Scary Facts About The Abyssal Zone

Since the abyssal zone is at the extreme bottom of the sea, food is scarce. The animals which live in this region use many ways to feed themselves.

• One of the very famous deep-sea fish is the anglerfish which has large teeth and it very often keeps its mouth open to catch anything that comes near.
• These animals over time have also developed black camouflage on their body which makes it harder for anyone to see them, thus they can track their prey without the prey even noticing.
• Most of the organisms which live in such deep-sea zones are very smart.
• They very often don't spend their energy hunting the prey but wait for the prey.
• Another kind of fish which is known as the tripod fish also lives in those deep ocean trenches. When it comes to such ocean zones, we cannot exactly tell their depth. Although, we can tell after which ocean region the abyssal zone may start.
• We can simply explain the abyssal zone as that part of the ocean where there is darkness and the temperature is relatively low.
• In such depth ranges of the shallow seas, one can also find unique flora.
• Since the zone is completely dark, many of the organism that lives here produce their own light.
• They produce light to not just see but also to lure prey in such depths of the ocean.
• There are many other zones of the ocean as well, however, the abyssal zone is the largest one.
• It covers almost 80% of the total ocean area and it will be surprising to know but the abyssal zone also takes in roughly 60% of the earth's surface as well.

Pressure And Temperature In The Abyssal Zone

The mesopelagic zone of the ocean still sees some light, but the abyssal zone is uniformly dark.

• The pressure at this zone is also very high since it's the extreme depth of the ocean.
• The reason why very few organisms and fishes live here is that they excel in handling the water pressure at this level.
• Although, due to extreme chilly conditions and no sunlight, the plants can't perform photosynthesis, due to which they have special microbes to do the job for them.
• This part of the ocean gets its dissolved oxygen from the polar waters.
• Despite such pressure and temperature conditions, life exists in this region.
• The abyssal zone is very important not just for life under the oceans but for humans as well.
• Since the zone covers 60% of the earth's surface the health of this region largely dominates the health of the regions above this zone where other marine life live which humans consume on a daily basis.
• This zone is also very chilly, with the temperature from 36-37 F (2.2-2.7 C).