Epipelagic zone

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Oceans and seas (main)


March 27, 2010, 12:00 am
December 5, 2011, 5:51 am

The epipelagic zone, in oceanography, is the uppermost level of a sea, generally construed to be waters of lesser depth than 200 meters.

This article is written at a definitional level only. Authors wishing to improve this entry are inivited to expand the present treatment, which additions will be peer reviewed prior to publication of any expansion.

Within this layer of the ocean is there the greatest penetration of sunlight, and hence generally the greatest primary biological productivity.

The epipelagic zone is directly above the mesopelagic zone of the ocean. 620px-Ocean zones.jpg Ocean Zones. Source: NOAA

Citation

Baum, S. (2011). Epipelagic zone. Retrieved from http://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Epipelagic_zone